Spira, Gullwings, and Rock n Roll
by Hurricane Jane
Summary: Using the newly formed rockstar dressphere, the Gullwings are off on a Spira wide tour that promises plenty of wild nights, rough mornings, old flames and new romance. RikkuGippal YunaTidus LuluWakka and some surprises. M for booze, sex and swearing.
1. World Tour

Too. Much. Beer.

Her brain was screaming at her to get up, but her body wouldn't let her out of the warm bed. Her warm bed? No, her bed spread was red. And there wasn't a window there. And there usually weren't so many beer bottles on her floor…

She groaned and rubbed her eyes. She was fairly certain there was some place she was supposed to be this morning, but was too busy trying to figure out where she was and what happened last night to remember exactly where that place WAS. She tried sitting up but was pulled back down by a strong arm. She gasped a little and glanced behind her at the man in the bed with her. One of the Al Bhed Psychs again. Oh well. At least it wasn't one of the Aurochs. Word always got back to Wakka, who always told Lulu who always had a hard-to-follow lecture ready to go. Blech. The strong blitzer behind her pulled her closer to him, nuzzling his nose into her warm, bare back.

"Kuut sunhehk," (good morning) she could hear him smiling as he spoke. They always woke up smiling after a night with her. He kissed the back of her neck and slid his hand over her naked hip.

"Well it IS a good morning, isn't it!" she laughed a little, letting him kiss and paw her gently under the covers. Just a little harmless fun. Fun got hotter fast. Just as he climbed on top of her, her commsphere beeped.

Yuna. Beautiful.

"Tu oui ryja du kad dryd?" (Do you have to get that) he whined into her neck, his lips brushing her collar bones as she smoothed her blond hair out before answering the commsphere. She didn't want to be TOO obvious.

"Oac! E tu!" (Yes! I do!) she snapped at him. He trailed kisses down her chest and she fought the urge to just blow off her cousin and engulf this toned tanned mild stranger into mind blowing morning sex, but her conscience got the best of her.

"Who is it?" he asked, his English startling her. He must have been sobering up.

"It's Yuna, now cut that out, I'm busy!" She pushed him off of her with a giggle and he flopped beside her in bed. She clicked the commsphere on.

"Rikku!" Yuna looked impatient. "Where are you?!"

"Uhhh… hehe, that's a pretty good question," Rikku trailed off. She was still unsure of what hotel she was in, and in which city that hotel was. She was pretty sure she was in Luca, but who knew?

"Stop playing around, Rikku! We have a meeting this morning! You're late!" Yuna huffed. Crap! The meeting!

"Oh…cred!" (shit) Rikku cried out, jumping out of bed, not sparing a moment for modesty as she clambered into last night's clothes. Tripping into her mini skirt, she said a good bye and a thank you and scrambled into her halter top as she hurried into the hall. She received an eye roll form the maid and didn't have the time or the patience or the sobriety to remind that maid of exactly who she was. And yes, she WAS pouring out of one of the Pyshch's rooms at nine in the morning, thank you very much! Now where did she put that damn garment grid…

Late again! She was always late. Maybe she wasn't the only one who forgot? That was doubtful. And she wasn't even THAT late and if she was where she thought she was, the meeting wasn't even that far away. She might even have time to stop and put her other shoe on! She burst through the hotel's front doors and out into the bustling streets of Luca.

Oh goodness! Too bright!

She paused and put her hands over her eyes, trying desperately to adjust to the morning sun. She made a silent vow to never drink that much again…today.

"Rikku!" Flash. Snap.

"Not now!" she groaned.

"Rikku over here!"

"Shelinda, I'm BUSY!" Rikku grumbled, pushing past the spherecams and flashing cameras and that nosey little Shelinda.

"Too busy for your fans, Rikku?" Shelinda grinned. Rikku sighed.

"Hi everyone! Thanks for coming to our shows!" she gave one of the spherecams a big grin then hurried away, the camera crew and Shelinda chasing behind her. "I've gotta go! Business!" she called over her shoulder. Mornings like these were when she questioned the fame. Recalling the fact that she could have whatever professional athlete she wanted for the night drove the question right out of her mind.

"THERE you are!" Yuna was waiting, hands on hips at their regular coffee shop in Luca. Paine was sitting down at a table looking casual with a newspaper and a cup of coffee. Buddy had a few folders in front of him and a drink as well. Two more mugs sat at the empty chairs. One empty chair was next to the angry Yuna and the other was for Rikku. She was last. Again.

"Sorry, I got held up by Shelinda and her idiots when I was leaving the hotel-" she began then cut herself off.

"Don't you live in Luca?" Paine flicked her eyes up over the top of the Lucan Times.

"Yes," Rikku fought a blush.

"And you were coming out of a hotel this morning?" Paine asked, still raising an eyebrow over the top of the paper.

"Maybe I was," Rikku crossed her arms over her chest.

"Explains your outfit," Paine shrugged and glanced back down at what she was reading.

"Hey!" Rikku threw her arms in the air.

"Enough! Let's just get started!" Buddy intervened. Paine set down her paper and Rikku plopped into her chair. The coffee was inviting. She didn't want to let on just how hung over she was. A cheeseburger would have been the ticket, but the hot mug of caffeine would have to do. "So, let me start off by saying your past month's shows have all been huge successes," Buddy began, becoming all business, sitting up straight and going through his folders. Rikku was kind of disappointed he dressed casually in what looked like blitz practice clothes instead of a tie or something. He was very official.

"We know they have been, and the spheres have been selling as well," Yuna, the most business savvy of the trio kept up with him. Since the vanquishing of Vegnagun, the Gullwings started to get bored. The sphere hunting craze turned up just about all there was to find, Spira was finally at peace, the Al Bhed were importing Machina into all the cities to help the Yevonites progress, and the two time saviors of Spira were still young and in their prime. Yuna was starting to get the urge to settle down with Tidus, they had a cute place in Besaid, but she was just twenty-one now, and still not quite done being young and irresponsible.

Rikku, the poster child for young and irresponsible was living large. She had a hip pad in Luca where she liked the night life, and a respectable apartment in New Home where she spent half of her time laying low (and the nightlife there wasn't bad either). Paine had settled into the easier living of Bevelle and was one of Baralai's right hand women on his council when she wasn't out with The Gullwings.

Buddy, Brother and Shinra were still inseparable and still bombing about Spira on the Celsius, however they were no longer hunting for spheres. Late one night, after too many drinks from the older boys on the crew and too many suggestions from the drunk Buddy and Brother, Shinra had tweaked some old spheres and garment grids just right. He mixed a little of the songstress, a little of this, a little of that, and presented the new spheres to the Gullwings by the next morning.

He'd created the Rockstar Dressphere.

And it was a great time.

The Gullwings now traveled around Spira playing concerts, making music spheres to sell in stores, doing interviews, they were on spherevisions in homes across Spira, on the covers of magazines, making public appearances… Yuna hated admitting it, but they were even more well recognized as rockstars than as heroes. Rikku had assured her to just go with the flow and enjoy it. Most of the profits they made went to worthy causes, the group financed an entire district of New Home. Some to help out with Baralai's Preatorship, sometimes just for food and fun for the whole village. They were very generous. And constantly in the public eye.

"So we're doing splenderiffic, why did you need to drag us out here at nine in the morning?" Rikku was still squinting and rubbing her temples. Paine, without speaking, reached into her pack and handed Rikku a potion. "What?" Rikku gave her a quizzical look.

"Drink it, Drunky. It'll help you feel better." Paine turned back to Buddy and gave him her attention. Buddy had become the manager of The Gullwings. It was unofficial at first. They just used him because Brother was ridiculous and Shinra was twelve, but they found he was really good at what he did, he had a great relationship with the girls and he was very organized.

"So I had a meeting with Tobli," Buddy said, sipping his drink. "And he's going to be doing a major PR blowout job for you."

"For what? We're already blowing up everywhere," Rikku pointed over her shoulder where Shelinda and her camera crews were pressed to the window, trying to sneak a peak at The Gullwings inside. Paine scowled. Yuna flashed a polite smile at the cameras.

"Well, have I got news for you ladies," Buddy grinned, pulling out another folder.

"What is it?" Rikku asked, doing her best to get excited. Her forehead was on the table.

"Gullwings?" Buddy smiled. "You're going on a world tour."


	2. The Gang's all here

"Oh BOY! World tour here we come! Look out Spira, the GULLWINGS are coming and we're gonna paarrrrrrrtay!" Rikku was back to her usual self as the group headed to the Celsius once the administrative business had been taken care of.

"There will be plenty of time for that later tonight," Buddy said over his shoulder as he walked up the ramp. "First things first, you three need to practice."

"PRACTICE?!" Rikku gasped. "I'm too excited to practice!" She crossed her arms over her chest in a huff.

"Today, you practice. Tonight, you can get as excited as you want," Buddy smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder. She scowled.

"Alright, Alright, let's get this over with!" Rikku huffed, giving Buddy a playful shove. The group followed buddy to the bridge where they found Brother pacing violently and throwing his arms around, yelling gibberish.

"Whoa! Hey! What's going on?!" Buddy cried out, startled.

"Shinra that little BRAT!" Brother yelled, stopping the pacing and gripping his hands into tight fists. "And right before World Tour Time! E fyc kuehk du puha uid knuibeac!" (I was going to bone out groupies!) Brother whined, slamming his fists down by his sides.

"What'd he say?" Yuna whispered to Paine.

"You don't want to know," Paine rolled her eyes.

"Easy Brother. What are you talking about?" Buddy tried to calm his friend.

"Just LOOK!" Brother cast a hand towards Shinra's console. His chair was empty and there was one sheet of paper taped to one of the screens.

"What the-" Buddy snatched the paper off the Screen.

"What is it?!" Rikku tried to get a look at the note.

"He's gone!" Buddy gasped.

"WHAT?!" 

"He says he's part of a new project at an undisclosed location, he'll contact us and let us know more when he can," Buddy's shoulders sank.

"That's IT?" Rikku cried.

"That's it. He says thank you and he loves us and that he'll get in touch with us," Buddy set the note back down on Shinra's console.

"Can he just DO that?" Rikku put her hands on her hips.

"Sure he can," Buddy sighed.

"What are we supposed to do now?! The midget is the only one who knows how to work all of our stage equipment! He built it all!" Rikku cried.

"We can hire someone, it's fine," Buddy replied.

"I guess it finally really WAS his last mission," Yuna said, a sad smile on her face.

"He's been saying that so long I stopped believing him," Paine agreed.

"Well Boo hoo! He ditched us the day before a world tour and you two want to sit here and cry about it?! We're screwed!" Rikku threw her hands in the air.

"I am agreeing with Rikku. Where are we going to find someone ready to pack up and stay with us for a month by tomorrow?" Brother stood next to his younger sister.

"Oh no," Paine swallowed hard. "Something bad's going to happen."

"They agreed again?" Yuna looked at Paine.

"I'm gonna go change and tune up. See you girls there," Paine sighed and left the bridge.

"Do you need help, Buddy? We can make some calls?" Yuna tried.

"No, no. Go practice. Make sure you're at a hundred percent. I'll take care of this," Buddy assured her.

"Okay, call us in if you need anything!" Yuna said. Buddy was pushing her and Rikku out of the room.

"What are you going to do?" Brother turned to Buddy once all the girls were gone.

"I know a guy who'll do it." Buddy said after a long pause.

"And you think he will be here by tonight?" Brother asked, raising an eyebrow.

"If I word this correctly, he'll be here in an hour," Buddy said flatly.

"Can we PLEASE take five?" Rikku moaned after hours of practice. She was pouting behind her drum set, leaning her elbows on the snare drum and playing with the beads in her hair.

"Oh fine, you're slacking off anyway," Paine sighed.

"What?! We've been doing this all day!" Rikku snapped.

"Stop it!" Yuna held a hand up. "I'm tired and hungry too, I think we should have something to eat and take a break."

"Yay!" Rikku tossed her drumsticks behind her and bolted for the bar.

"Buddy, we're through practicing for now if you want to go over anything else for the tour," Yuna beeped Buddy up on the bridge. Barkeep set a few glasses of water down for the Gullwings.

"Thank you," Paine nodded at the hypello.

"You're welcome, Mish Paine," he nodded back softly. The door to the cabin flew open.

"Hey Cid's Girl." Gippal was standing between Buddy and Brother. Yuna gasped. Paine's eyes flew open and she reached to grab at the back of Rikku before she lunged at the door but there wasn't much to hold onto in her Rockstar Dressphere. She went for the next best thing and tried to grab Rikku's pony tail but the little blond was too quick.

"What are YOU doing here?!" She gave Gippal a hard shove in the shoulders. He fell back a step.

"Whoa! Nice to see you too, Princess!" He held his hands up.

"You let this scoundrel on board?" Rikku turned to Brother.

"I was not wanting to, but your little friend Buddy made me do it," Brother grumbled.

"You did?!" Rikku turned her rage on Buddy.

"Rikku," Buddy tried.

"You think you can just drop in on me, huh?" She pointed at Gippal. He stood tall, half cocky smile on his face, just listening to her. "See if I'm interested? WELL I'M NOT!" Rikku turned away for a few minutes.

"Rikku," Buddy started again.

"Keeping tabs on me? How many times do I have to tell you we're through, Gippal? All that stuff you said last time? I saw you with that Goers Cheerleader, I know what you're up to! And that waitress in Bevelle and I know about the bartender from downtown Luca, too!" Rikku put her hands on her hips and stood as tall as she could.

"Well, Sweetheart, as nice as this trip down memory lane has been, I think you should wrap it up. We have work to do," Gippal grinned.

"What kind of work? Buddy, is he hustling you two out of money trying to fix this ship for you again?" Rikku turned to Buddy, her green eyes still flaming.

"Hey, Cid's girl-"

"RIKKU."

"Huh?" Gippal squinted at her.

"My name. It's Rikku. I know you know it," she huffed.

"We've all certainly heard him scream it," Paine said out the corner of her mouth to Yuna whose face was a mixture of disgust and laughter.

"Well then, RIKKU," Gippal began. "Before you go accusing me of doing any 'hustling' I think you should know that HE called ME," Gippal put an arm around Buddy's shoulders. Rikku just stared back at them.

"You didn't." she said flatly.

"Well, with Shinra leaving so quickly, I panicked, we're booked in Besaid in two days and I needed someone who would be able to run all the equipment well," Buddy's voice was rising and he was inching behind Gippal. Rikku's eyes were getting angrier and angrier.

"E dumt oui cra fyc kuehk du gemm oui!" (I told you she was going to kill you!) Brother took a step behind Gippal as well. He didn't seem phased. Rikku stared back up at him.

"Yunie?" She snapped over her shoulder, still glaring at Gippal.

"Yes?" Yuna looked up, alarmed.

"I'm going to my apartment to get my things. Would you come with me?" Rikku asked.

"Of course!" Yuna smiled. Rikku grabbed Yuna's hand and pushed past the men in the doorway.

"Is Buddy out of his MIND?!" Rikku charged off the Celsius with Yuna following close behind her.

"Rikku, calm down!" Yuna tried not to laugh.

"I most certainly will not!" Rikku huffed. Her mind was made up and she stomped through the streets towards her apartment. Yuna did her best to keep up, pausing to switch to her gunner sphere. The short tight gray and purple halter dress and tall heeled boots were great for rocking out on stage, but hell on the cobble stoned streets of Luca. She had no idea how Rikku was moving so fast in stilettos, a barely there dark red mini and the black bathing suit top she was barely wearing. Rikku also sported a pair of fish net tights. Yuna had hers removed from the sphere. They were too much for her.

"I'll let you get this out of your system tonight, but you're going to have to accept it. Gippal's coming on tour with us," Yuna said as Rikku threw open her front door and barged into her apartment. She left the door wide open behind her.

"Why weren't we consulted on this?" Rikku stomped right through the kitchen and living room to her bedroom.

"Probably because Buddy knew this is how you would react!" Yuna closed the front door and followed her younger cousin.

"Then maybe he shouldn't have asked him to come!" Rikku was standing in front of her closet throwing things onto her bed to take with her.

"He was in a jam and Gippal can help us. You know he's the best at this kind of stuff." Yuna dodged flying mini skirts and boots.

"DON'T flatter him like that! What are you doing on their side with all of this?!" Rikku yelled, moving to her dresser and grabbing things out of it and hucking them towards the bed.

"Oh Rikku, you know I'm just telling the truth. Maybe this time on the road will give you two that final push to get over whatever is between you," Yuna sighed.

"There is NOTHING between us!" Rikku stopped in her throwing and turned to give Yuna a hard look.

"Whatever you say," Yuna held her hands up and backed out of the room. "I'm going to get something to drink, do you want anything?" she headed for the kitchen.

"Get me a beer," Rikku huffed.

"It's five o'clock in the afternoon!" Yuna laughed.

"Sounds about right to me!" Rikku snapped, stuffing everything on her bed into a trunk.

"So what are you doing here, you dirty little mechanic?" Paine asked, coming up behind Gippal in the engine room where Shinra stored most of the equipment before he left.

"Ah, Dr. P. What a sight you are for sore eyes," Gippal hugged Paine around the neck and she shrugged him off.

"That may work on bimbos, but not on me, Pal," Paine gave him a playful jab in the shoulder. Gippal laughed. "So really. You thought this would be a good idea?" Paine raised an eyebrow at him.

"Of course," He gave her his trademark grin. "She can't resist me."

"Well, from what we saw earlier she is just DYING to throw you down into bed!" Paine said sarcastically.

"You laugh now, Dr. P. I'll get her. This is exactly what I need," Gippal pointed at the speakers.

"A crappy roadie job?" Paine smirked.

"We're LIVING together, Paine. In tight quarters. For a month." Gippal smiled wider.

"Oh god, I hadn't even THOUGHT of the possibilities," Paine put a hand over her mouth.

"She won't be able to resist me," Gippal smiled confidently and wiped some sweat off his brow. "It's hot as hell in here!"

"It really is. Look, I don't want to damage your indestructible pride or anything, but Rikku might not be exactly who you think she is anymore. I don't know how to say this but I think she's over it." Paine said.

"Trust me, Paine. I know how she works. She's NEVER over it," Gippal smiled deviously.

"And another thing!" Rikku slurred, dragging her trunk behind her as she and Yuna walked back to the Celsius four beers later. "What is with the pink outfit? You know, I told him after Vegnagun and all of that that if he was going to be with me? That pink outfit had to go. He still wears it sometimes you know. And do you know WHY Yunie?" she pointed at Yuna who was trying not to laugh.

"Why?" she humored her.

"To SPITE me! He knows I hate it!" Rikku struggled with her trunk as she tripped in her heels.

"Rikku, stop it. You know that's not true," Yuna said, helping her cousin up the loading ramp onto the ship.

"YES IT IS!" Rikku yelled.

"Sounds like trouble!" Buddy laughed as Rikku and Yuna made their way to the engine room to store her trunk.

"A whole trunk? I didn't know a girl like you could fill a whole trunk what with the size of all these outfits you're wearing!" Gippal looked up from the equipment. Rikku rolled her eyes.

"I'm dying laughing inside, really I promise," she pretended to gag.

"How's it going, Gippal? Have you got everything figured out?" Buddy asked. He was standing next to Rikku shifting nervously with a folder.

"So far so good. I've almost got it all set. I may even be able to get you some more power out of these babies," Gippal replied.

"Excellent!" Buddy smiled wide.

"Buuuuuddyyyyy" Rikku whined, grabbing Buddy's arm and leaning on his shoulder. "Does he HAVE to come?" she gave him a pair of drunk puppy dog eyes. She was REALLY good at that. Buddy hated it.

"If we want this tour to work out, then yes," Buddy softened a little.

"REALLY?" she tried harder, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning on him with her whole body. She wasn't wearing much. She never was. It was killing him.

"Really."

"Cuh uv y pedlr!" (son of a bitch!) Rikku cried and pushed herself off of Buddy. "I'm going to my room. Don't any of you follow me! I'm getting ready to go out!" she stormed off and Buddy watched her leave.

"Well," Paine snorted. "I can see just how irresistible you are, Sir."

"Can it, Paine." Gippal snapped.

"You think she's okay?" Buddy turned with concern to Yuna.

"She'll be fine, she already started drinking, we need to let her go party it off. You know how she is," Yuna waved a hand. "I'm going to have a lie down before I start getting things ready." Yuna left the engine room. Buddy continued to fidget.

"Don't worry, Buddy. I'm going to go out with her tonight and keep an eye on her," Paine sighed.

"Would you?" He looked thankfully at her.

"Of course," Paine replied.

"I'll see you later tonight, then. I need to clear up some last minute logistic stuff." Buddy headed back towards the bridge.

"What's his deal?" Gippal pointed after Buddy with a screwdriver in his hand.

"What do you mean?" Paine shrugged.

"He's acting like a wuss. And he was even weirder when Cid's girl was in here," Gippal replied.

"Oh, that. He likes her," Paine replied, nonchalant.

"WHAT?" Gippal stood up a little straighter.

"He's always been into her," Paine looked at her fingernails. She didn't really care for the gossip of the Celsius. "I thought you knew that."

"I most certainly did NOT know that!" Gippal snapped. He put a hand to his head.

"Little wrench in the works of your plan?" Paine raised an eyebrow.

"Does she like him?" Gippal asked.

"Are you afraid of a little competition?" Paine smirked.

"Does she like him or not?" Gippal persisted.

"Maybe?" Paine shrugged.

"STOP IT! Just tell me!" he begged.

"I did. Maybe she does and maybe she doesn't? How would I know?" Paine replied truthfully. "Looks like you've got ALL kinds of work cut out for you." Paine tapped some more of the sound equipment as she headed for the stairs.


	3. Dirty Dancing and a Bathroom Surprise

"You didn't have to come here with me!" Rikku yelled over the loud music.

"I know?" Paine shrugged, raising her hand to get the bartender's attention. The two women were seated at the bar in one of Luca's night clubs.

"How much is Gippal paying you to spy on me?" Rikku asked, tipping back her seventh drink of the day.

"I'm not here because he sent me," Paine almost laughed.

"It's Buddy, then. What does he want anyway?" Rikku huffed.

"Buddy didn't send me either," Paine strained her neck looking for the bartender. The place was packed.

"Yuna?" Rikku gave Paine a quizzical look.

"You find it hard to believe that I might just want to spend time with you?" Paine shrugged. Rikku gave her a look. "Alright, fine. After a day like today? I need a fucking beer as well," Paine smiled as the bartender set a drink down in front of her. Rikku broke into a laugh.

"I don't blame you for hurrying off that ship either," Rikku rolled her eyes. "If I had to spend one more second just knowing that he might pop up at me around the corner, I would probably just-"

"Cid's Girl!" Gippal and Buddy appeared behind Rikku.

"Right behind me?" she looked straight ahead at Paine who was trying VERY hard not to laugh.

"Oh yeah," Paine looked away.

"WHAT are you DOING here?" Rikku growled, turning on her bar stool to face Gippal.

"Nothing. Just out having a drink with my old friend and new boss!" Gippal threw a chummy arm around Buddy who shifted uncomfortably.

"I'll bet," Rikku continued to glare at him.

"Princess, you flatter yourself too much. I just followed Buddy in here to get a beer. How would I know where you hang out?" Gippal shrugged and flagged down the bartender.

"Are you sure he's not paying you? Whatever it is, I'll double it," Rikku looked over her shoulder at Paine. Paine held her hands up and shook her head no. "I don't have to sit here and take this!" Rikku huffed, slamming her empty bottle down on the table. "Buddy?" she turned her attention to the other Al Bhed man.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to dance?" Rikku slid off her barstool and nodded towards the crowded dance floor.

"What?!" Gippal and Buddy yelped in unison.

"Would you like to dance with me?" Rikku rested her hand on his arm. He looked back and forth from Gippal to Paine. He gave Buddy a death glare. She gave Buddy a shrug.

"Um…sure, Rikku. I'd love to dance with you," Buddy forced a smile through his nerves. Rikku rolled her eyes at Gippal as she pulled the darker Al Bhed out onto the floor.

"What. The hell!" Gippal turned to Paine.

"Hey, I'm not the one who's simply irresistible," Paine smirked.

"Perhaps not, but you do look LOVELY in this light," Gippal leaned in to plant a sarcastic kiss on Paine's mouth. She shouted and pushed him away.

"Thanks, but no thanks," Paine shuddered.

"I knew you were into chicks." Gippal waved a hand.

"Excuse me?" Paine sat up straighter.

"It's cool, Paine. Baralai and I always knew you were playing for our team," Gippal smiled.

"Gippal," Paine began slowly. "I like men."

"Sure you do, keep telling yourself that," Gippal took a sip of his beer. Paine scowled.

"Please tell me the two of you aren't here on a date," a strong male voice asked from behind the awkward pair.

"Nooj!" Gippal exclaimed, clapping his long time friend on the back.

"How are you both?" Nooj shot Paine a friendly smile.

"We're not so bad. How 'bout yourself?" she leaned one elbow on the bar and smirked back.

"Just fine until I saw what looked like you two out together," Nooj replied, still laughing.

"We are most certainly NOT here together," Paine rolled her eyes.

"Besides, you know Dr. P's a lesbian," Gippal gave Nooj a knowing smile.

"Well, that's certainly news to me," Nooj smiled at Paine.

"Me too," Paine rolled her eyes.

"Hey, where's what'sherface?" Gippal asked.

"NOOOOOOJIEEEE!!!!" a shrill cry came over the loud music and bustle of the crowd.

"Oh Christ," Paine winced and put a hand to her forehead. "You brought HER to a place like THIS?" Paine turned to Nooj.

"It was her idea to come?" he shrugged.

"For crying out loud," Paine grumbled.

"Gippal! Paine! How ARE you darlings?" Leblanc found the group by the bar and got too close for comfort as usual.

"Just fine, just fine," Gippal lifted Leblanc's hand and planted a kiss on the back of it. She blushed and gushed in her typical fashion. Paine rolled her eyes again. "See, Paine? I have this effect on women. Women who aren't into other women anyway," Gippal said smugly to Paine.

"Give it a rest! I'm into SMART men!" Paine flicked Gippal in the forehead and got up off her stool. "I'll be back in a while," she blended quickly into the crowd. Nooj craned his neck.

"Where'd she go so fast?" He looked around.

"Who cares? Probably chasing skirts. Let me get you guys some drinks," Gippal waved a hand.

On the dance floor, Rikku was sweating up a storm and rubbing all over Buddy. He wasn't a bad dancer, certainly good enough to keep up with the energetic Al Bhed princess. She, on the other hand, was an animal on the dance floor, and it wasn't helping the huge crush Buddy had on her.

It had been going on for years, the beginning of the Gullwings really. That thief outfit wasn't helping his cause at all. Her attitude, her demeanor, he ability to always just laugh, no matter what, it all caught his attention. Nothing changed the fact that she was his best friend's little sister. That would never change, no matter how tan her legs were. The older they got, the harder it got to hide it. She would throw herself at him when she was drunk and he would let her, but the guilt always caught up with him whenever it took a turn further than kissing. He couldn't do it if she wasn't in the right state of mind, he couldn't do that to her like all the other guys did.

She was too good for that, whether she knew it yet or not.

And by the way she was dancing it would seem that she did not. There were two places where Rikku never held back: the battlefield and the dance floor. He did his best to keep up with her rocking hips and fast moves. All the while with a drink in each hand! She was incredible!

"That Rikku certainly can dance!" Leblanc sighed.

"I hadn't noticed!" Gippal grumbled. He was draining another bottle of beer. There was a healthy amount of empty bottles in front of him. Nooj had excused himself twenty minutes ago for, something, neither Gippal nor Leblanc were really listening. Paine was still keeping her distance leaving the Al Bhed and Nooj's woman with nothing to do but watch the dance floor and drink as much as fast as possible.

"Does her father know she's out in public like this? Honestly!" Leblanc waved a hand and rolled her eyes. Gippal just stared at her drunkenly.

"What do you mean 'out like this'?" he asked.

"Hun, her naughty bits are everywhere, she trounces around Spira in a hairline mini and all those braids? What is she hiding up there?" Leblanc scoffed, taking a healthy swig of the pink drink in front of her. "They've got to serve a dirty purpose."

"Handle bars," Gippal nodded without thinking, then caught up with the conversation. He shook his head a few times. "Where do you get off complaining about her outfit? Your neckline reaches your navel! And I don't believe I have ever seen you stand up straight! And that tattoo screams tramp," Gippal pointed, eyes half closed, at the heart on Leblanc's chest. Leblanc's mouth hung open.

"My Noojie-Woojie and I are quite monogamous thank you!" she huffed.

"Whatever." Gippal grumbled as he watched Buddy's hands slide over Rikku's hipbones. Those were supposed to be his palms against her damp dance hall body. Leblanc crossed her arms over her chest and tried very hard to pretend Gippal wasn't there.

"Where did Noojie run off to? Did he say?" she looked around the club not really expecting to spot him. On the other hand, he WAS hard to miss.

"I don't know," Gippal gritted his teeth as Rikku pressed her back to Buddy's front, her delicate little hands snaking up and touching his neck and shoulders. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted back onto Buddy's chest. Buddy's hands traveled up to her waist as he kept up with her dancing.

"He's been gone awfully long," Leblanc sighed. Gippal watched in pain as Rikku danced. Her dancing was something he was familiar with. They used to go to clubs all the time. Mostly because they didn't have to talk if they were dancing. Talking always got them into fights and fights got them into break ups which got them into make ups which got them into bed, but the cycle had come to a halt months ago. He hadn't so much as had a civil conversation with her in half a year. She drove him crazy.

But she was achingly beautiful.

And hot.

And all over Buddy, her hands straying all over his body. She spun quickly to face him, his thigh between her legs. She had her arms draped around his neck as she pumped to the beats. She came dangerously close to smacking him in the face with her braids. Gippal watched with angry eyes and prayed that the beads would get him, some of those big fat colored ones she wore in those braids would just get Buddy right in the mouth. No such luck. The Al Bhed heiress threw her head back, her lips parted, eyes half shut as she moved her body in waves against Buddy.

"So go fucking look for him!" Gippal snapped at Leblanc.

"Goodness, someone's got his wrenches in a bunch," Leblanc sighed and glanced away.

"Sorry," Gippal grunted.

"If it's about the girl," Leblanc nodded towards the pair of Al Bheds grinding on the dance floor.

"It's NOT."

"Well, if I were you," Leblanc smiled. "I would not tolerate that for a MOMENT," she pointed at Buddy.

"It's about time!" Paine growled, impatient.

"I'm sorry, I was trying to be discreet," Nooj replied pushing the bathroom stall door closed behind him. The loud music in the club was muffled in the bathroom.

"She's an idiot, Nooj! She's never going to figure it out!" Paine threw her hands in the air.

"She may if you don't keep that mouth closed," he stepped closer to her.

"Keep MY mouth closed?" Paine pointed to herself.

"Who knows what kind of vents this place has! What if she comes in to use the restroom?" Nooj looked nervous. Paine eyed him curiously. He was usually so confident with her.

"What's gotten into you?" Paine asked.

"Nothing," Nooj said, his voice a little higher. Paine examined him a moment longer before pushing his back into the stall door and kissing him hard. He ran his hands up her sides, pushing her top up over her head.

"If nothing is wrong, why are you being so shady?" Paine asked, grabbing at the front of his clothes frantically undressing him.

"I'm not being shady!" he grabbed her at the waist and backed her into the wall. She was straddling the toilet as she pushed his shirt back, exposing his broad shoulders. He dove at her neck, kissing and biting.

"Look, if you're worried about her finding out, why don't you just dump her. There's nothing left of that relationship anyway," Paine got out through hard breaths. He knew exactly where all her buttons were and exactly how to push them. He grabbed at her breasts and worked a few moans of delight out of Paine. "She's not giving you what you want, all she's causing you is stress," Paine said, throwing her head back into the wall at some perfect maneuvers of Nooj's tongue against her nipples. He didn't respond, just kept at her body, licking, kissing, nibbling. Paine's breaths came faster and shorter as she arched her back away from the wall, pressing herself into his hands and mouth. Nooj worked at the buckles and straps involved in her shorts. He couldn't count how many times they'd been in this situation, but he still couldn't get her undressed without thinking about it. "And really, what do you even SEE in a woman like that?"

"Will you shut up?!" He looked her sternly in the eye. Paine's mouth hung open. "I'm trying to get you off here and all you want to do is talk about my girlfriend? Can we not talk about her please? You're ruining this for me!" He hissed.

"I can't believe you just told me to shut up!" Paine glared at him.

"I can't believe you WON'T shut up! Stop asking me about Leblanc when I'm trying to get your pants off!" Nooj snapped. With a fierce yank he got her shorts down.

"I can't believe it's taking you so long!" Paine smirked.

"Oh, you bitch," Nooj grinned, sliding his hand between Paine's legs. She let out a low growl.

"Don't call me a bitch, Nooj, it's not nice," she got out between pants.

"Don't talk while I'm working, it's not polite," Nooj growled, forcing a few fingers inside. Paine stiffened in surprised, then settled down onto his hand and moved with him.

"I never was good with manners," she kept on.

"Are you even enjoying this? You have time to come up with witty banter while I'm inside you?" Nooj stopped, standing up straighter and backing way from her for a moment.

"I AM witty!" Paine cried.

"Look, we don't have to do this if you're not into it anymore," He told her.

"I'm fucking into it! Why are you stopping! I thought you liked the talking!" Paine yelped.

"I like the filthy stuff, but this is just weird, we're not supposed to be having a conversation! Gippal's right, isn't he. You're not into this at all, that's why you keep talking about Leblanc, you want a fucking woman!" Nooj yelled. Paine drew back and slapped Nooj across the face.

"How dare you even say that to me!" Paine snapped, outraged. She thrust her hands into his pants and pulled him out. "This is the shit I want now stop pansying around with this 'what do you want' crap and FUCK me like you always do!" Paine growled through clenched teeth.

"Ah, there's my girl," Nooj grinned, slamming into her.


	4. Stay with me

"Well!" Rikku banged her two empty bottles onto the bar next to Gippal. "I feel MUCH better!" she smiled that smile of hers. She and Buddy had just spent the past half hour feeling each other up in public. Gippal had spent the last half hour trying not to look at them while also trying to tune out Leblanc. Paine sauntered back up to the group adjusting her top. She had spent the last half hour in the bathroom.

"I'm glad," Gippal said flatly. Rikku ordered another drink and gripped the bar to keep from falling over. "Whoa there! Careful!" Gippal put a hand on her lower back to keep her steady. He used to put his hand there all the time. Damn it.

"I'm fine!" she shrugged him off and leaned on the bar, her small rear end sticking out dangerously close to him. He looked straight forward to keep the temptation of her sweaty body out of his line of vision.

"Just trying to help," He said.

"Oh YOU are just trying to help? Believe me. The LAST thing I need is any help from YOU," She got in his face. The bartender set another beer down in front of her. "No! Wait!" she grabbed him by the wrist. The young bartender looked nervously at her. He knew exactly who she was. She was the last costumer he'd want to upset. He had her autograph on a napkin hanging up on the other side of the bar.

"Is everything okay?" he asked nervously.

"Oh it's fine! Let me ask you something!" Rikku pointed at him. She was clearly drunk.

"Sure," the bartender shrugged.

"I've been coming here and drinking up your scrumptious beers for years now," Rikku began. "And I love 'em!" She grinned. "But I feel like you know me."

"I wouldn't exactly say I know you," the young man began.

"Close enough! Now, do you think I'm pretty?" Rikku batted her eyes.

"Rikku!" Gippal laughed.

"What? Do you?" she shot flirty looks at the bartender.

"Yes, you are very pretty," he blushed, cleaning at the counter with a rag nervously.

"Pretty enough to be your girlfriend?" she leaned on the bar, her tiny top showing off more than she probably realized.

"Oh my," the baby faced bartender blushed. "Certainly."

"Now, if I WAS your girlfriend," she glared at Gippal. "Would you sleep around with waitresses and inn keepers and mechanics and cheerleaders and strangers and waitresses' sisters and secretaries and merchants and merchants' sisters and-"

"ALRIGHT!" Gippal cried out.

"Would you?" Rikku looked up at the bartender with wide, playful eyes.

"Um," he swallowed hard. Gippal was giving him a look to kill. Rikku's look was killing him. "No. No I don't think I would," the bartender smiled at her.

"That is a very good answer, my friend! Now! Bring me a few rounds of shots for me and this player!" she pointed to Gippal.

"What? Shots! Rikku, that's a bad idea," Gippal turned to her.

"No it's not, it's a GREAT idea! You know what? Get me some for this bitch too!" Rikku grabbed Paine by the shoulder. Paine looked back startled.

"Oh, no thank you," Paine told the bartender.

"Oh come one, Dr. P! You NEVER party with me and we were having so much fun earlier!" Rikku whined and threw her arms around Paine.

"Alright, get off of me, we can do some shots," Paine sighed, peeling a very drunk Rikku off of her.

"YEAH!" Rikku pumped a fist in the air. The bartender set three glasses down in front of them. "Alright, this first one? Is to putting it behind us. I'm not going to be a meanie to you anymore," Rikku tapped Gippal on the nose. He stared back in shock.

"Don't forget, she's drunk," Paine reminded Gippal. "She'll forget tomorrow."

"I will NOT, PAINE. And I'm not taking your crap anymore either!" Rikku clinked glasses with both of them and they all threw the drinks back.

"Whew! That's some serious stuff!" Paine wiped her mouth.

"Alright, we did your shot," Gippal started to get off his stool. "We have a full day tomorrow, I'm going to hit the hay," he started to pull his jacket on.

"Oh come on! We just started!" Rikku pointed to another round she had ordered.

"No thanks. I'll take a rain check," Gippal smiled sadly. Maybe she really WAS over him.

"Okay, I guess I can just give this one to Buddy if you're too much of a wimp to keep drinking with me and Painey. BUDDY! Where did he go?" Rikku looked around. Gippal whipped his jacket off.

"Over my dead body. I'm no wimp, especially when it comes to this stuff!" Gippal grabbed a shot glass off the bar. Paine rolled her eyes and smiled at him.

"Alright! This one is to The Gullwings!" Rikku held her glass up.

"To the Crimson Squad!" Gippal made eye contact with Paine.

"What about you Paine?" Rikku asked, all three of them holding the shot up in the air.

"Nothing, just drink it." Paine said.

"Nuh uh! You have to pick something!" Rikku waved a finger at Paine.

"Fine. To booze," Paine shrugged.

"So creative," Rikku frowned at Paine.

"Just drink your damn drink," Paine glowered at Rikku.

Twenty Minutes Later 

"To Yunie!" Rikku held another glass up. She couldn't stop laughing. Gippal's eyes were almost closed and he was giggling as well. Paine was hanging onto the bar, refusing to let on how drunk she was.

"To, oh, what's his name there, that little guy with the beak?" Gippal laughed.

"Tobli!" Rikku burst out laughing.

"Yeah! To that punk!" Gippal held his up too.

"Come on Paine!" Rikku laughed. "You have to pick another one!" Rikku put her hand over her mouth. Paine looked to be in deep thought.

"What do you think she's going to pick?" Gippal leaned closer to Rikku and whispered.

"I don't know!" Rikku was holding in laughter.

"To sex," Paine said matter of factly after a few moments of thought.

"Sex?! Dr. P!" Rikku gasped. Rikku was sitting in Gippal's lap, his hand on her waist. He retracted it uneasily at Paine's mention of the word sex. The two of them were giggling profusely.

"Yes. To sex," Paine lifted her chin a bit and smiled.

"Fair enough!" Rikku smiled as well as the three clinked glasses and tossed the shot back. Rikku stood up off of Gippal's lap and immediately fall back onto him.

"You okay?" He asked, steadying her by her hips.

"I have to pee!" she tried again and started tumbling towards the bathroom. She laughed hysterically when she hit the floor. Paine stifled laughter and picked her up by the arm.

"Come on, I'll go with you," Paine giggled.

"Dr. P!" Rikku whined from inside the stall. Paine was leaning on the wall just outside of it.

"What?" Paine asked. Her eyes were closed and she leaned her head on the wall.

"Paaaaaaaine!" Rikku kept on.

"Are you out of toilet paper in there or something?" Paine sighed.

"Why is he being NICE to me?" Rikku cried.

"He's always nice to you," Paine shrugged.

"He is NOT!" Rikku snapped.

"You're the mean one."

"I am not!"

"Yes you are. He's usually just trying to have fun with you and you turn it into a whole big bitchfest," Paine replied.

"I do not!" Rikku whined. She sounded like she was crying.

"Yes you do," Paine replied.

"I know!" Rikku moaned. She opened the stall door and stumbled to the sink to wash her hands. "I'm the jerk! It's me!" Rikku was a crying mess.

"Oh, Come on, don't cry," Paine tried. She didn't do crying.

"He slept with all those other girls, Paine!" Rikku gestured wildly with her hands as she spoke. "Dozens of them!" Rikku tacked on.

"I know, I know," Paine tried to comfort her. She didn't really know how and was JUST drunk enough to care.

"While he was with me!" Rikku squeaked.

"That sucks," Paine agreed.

"You know he never told me he loved me?" Rikku looked up at Paine, pressing her lips together, trying not to sob. Paine's eyes shot open in surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah. Not once." Rikku cried harder. Paine didn't know what to do.

"Look, Rikku," she stepped closer to the younger blond. "If you tell anyone about this? I'm going to hurt you," Paine gave the Al Bhed a hug. Rikku fell against Paine and her crying seemed to stop. Paine tried to pull away, but Rikku's weight didn't give. "Rikku?" Paine shook Rikku a little. "Rikku?" the girl didn't budge. "Aw, fuck." She was passed out. Paine dragged her out of the bathroom where Gippal was patiently waiting. "Hey!"

"What the," Gippal trailed off.

"Yeah. She's passed out. Can you carry her back to the Celsius? I'm going to find Buddy and get the hell out of here," Paine pointed over her shoulder.

"Sure," Gippal said awkwardly, picking up Rikku.

"More shots!" she managed to mumble.

"No more shots, Babe. It's time to go to bed," He said quietly to her. She wrapped her arm around his neck, he had a hand behind her back and one under her legs. She was tiny, carrying her was effortless.

"Okay," she said in a sleepy voice.

He carried her out of the club and made his way through town. The streets were fairly empty. Most people had retired hours ago, and the few who hadn't were still in the clubs and bars. It was a warm night, but her body against his made it even warmer.

"Come on, Cid's girl, we're almost home," He smiled as he spoke. He was glad she was too out of it to see him.

"Don't call me that," she mumbled into his chest.

"Sorry, Princess," he grinned.

"Don't call me that either," she said.

"Can you get me a t shirt from over there?" Rikku moaned, pulling off her scarf and sleeves.

"Um, sure," Gippal looked through Rikku's trunk uncomfortably and found a plain white t shirt. He winced. It was his.

"Thanks," she took it from him and pulled it over her head and flopped down onto the bed.

"Ah, do you need some shorts or anything?" Gippal averted his eyes from her exposed behind.

"I'm too tired!" Rikku complained.

"Alright, come on, let's get you tucked in," he pulled the blankets back and helped her into bed. He looked down at her and she looked right back, a soft smile on her face. If he didn't know better, he'd say she looked like she'd been, crying. Must just be the booze. He moved to go and she grabbed his hand.

"Stay with me," she said, her voice gentle.

"Oh," he tried to hide his shock. He shouldn't. He couldn't. She was just drunk. "I don't think so," Gippal let out a nervous laugh.

"E's cunno," (I'm sorry) she whispered. "vun paehk cu nita." (for being so rude)

"You don't have to be sorry," he ran a hand through his hair, the other was still holding hers.

"cdyo fedr sa," (stay with me) she said again, moving over in her bed to make room for him. He loved it when she spoke Al Bhed. This was impossible.

"I can't," He said sincerely.

"Please?" she smiled. Oh, why did she have to SMILE.

"I'm going to let you sleep. You're going to be tired tomorrow," he said softly and kissed her forehead, pulling the blankets up around her shoulders. She rolled over and seemed to drift off. He watched her fall asleep for a few moments.

"Oh my," Paine said smugly from the top of the stairs.

"Jesus, Paine!" Gippal nearly jumped at her voice.

"Wow, I never thought I'd see the day," Paine crossed to her trunk to find something to sleep in. She tripped a little in the tall heels she was wearing.

"What are you talking about?" Gippal whispered. He didn't want to wake Rikku.

"I'm glad I got to see it for myself," Paine kept smiling.

"Paine!" Gippal hissed.

"Big Bad Gippal's still in LOVE."


	5. Breakfast and Bunks

"Get up," Paine gave Rikku a whack in the legs.

"I can't move," Rikku grumbled, still under her blankets. Her head was pounding worse than yesterday. Where had she been last night again?

"No, I'm serious, get up, we have to have breakfast with the staff today, Buddy's pissed, we're already late," Paine was getting dressed and hurrying about their room. Ever since Tidus came back, Yuna had relocated to one of the other bedrooms leaving Paine and Rikku roommates in the cabin above the bar.

"What? For real?" Rikku rubbed her eyes and sat up in her bed.

"Yeah, come on, we're late," Paine tossed Rikku's boots onto her bed.

"How much time to I have?" Rikku hopped out of bed and pulled her boots on. Her braids were a wreck. She pulled them out and smoothed her hair down.

"None, we've gotta go," Paine was heading for the stairs.

"Aw, Paine! I'm not ready for breakfast!" Rikku whimpered. "I might throw up before we get there!"

"Then put that hair in a pony tail, we've gotta move," Paine said over her shoulder. Paine was in her warrior's bottoms from last night and a tank top she had clearly managed to change into to sleep in. Rikku looked down at the t-shirt and skirt she was in. Interesting. She didn't remember changing. Or coming home.

"Is everyone going to be there? Who do I have to deal with this morning?" Rikku scurried along behind Paine, pulling her hair into a simple pony tail. She yelped at the bright morning sun as they ran off the Celsius and headed for town.

"Tech crew, So Gippal and whoever Buddy has working for him, Buddy, your brother, possibly Tobli and his team, Yuna, us, come on, we're late!" Paine stepped her pace up and Rikku tried to follow.

"This is disasteriffic," Rikku grumbled under her breath.

"By the way? You asked Gippal to sleep with you last night," Paine said out the side of her mouth as she pushed the door to the restaurant open.

"I did WHAT?!" Rikku yelped. The team looked up at her from a long table. She blushed.

"Nice of you to join us, Ladies," Buddy said, trying not to look at Rikku. She vaguely remembered rubbing up and down his body last night in the club and sheepishly took her seat next to Yuna. She picked up the breakfast menu and tried to pick something to eat. Her head was still spinning so fast she was just going to get whatever Yuna got anyway.

"Sorry," Paine said for both of them. "We were having a rough morning."

"I'll bet," Yuna said smugly. Paine and Rikku had identical looks of disgust.

"Anyway, now that we're all here, we can get started," Buddy cleared his throat.

"What time did you get home last night?" Yuna asked Rikku in a motherly tone.

"None of your beeswax," Rikku sat up straighter and lifted her nose at Yuna.

"You know, Rikku, you really need to start taking a more professional attitude towards all of this," Yuna started with that tone again.

"Yunie. When you were a summoner, I followed your rules. When you took over The Gullwings? We played your guardian games. Now? Spira is safe and we're just plain old rockstars, so can you please lay off the breakfast lecture? I have a hangover. Like a real rockstar SHOULD," Rikku snapped. Yuna sighed and went back to her menu, reaching out and holding Tidus's hand on the table. Rikku watched the words swim around on her menu a few moments.

"Hey," someone kicked her foot under the table. Rikku looked up. Oh no. Gippal was sitting right across from her and he was…smiling?

"What?" Rikku whispered back, annoyed. Buddy was at the head of the table going over numbers and boring itinerary things she could just ask Paine about later.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," she hissed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear that had escaped her ponytail. Did she really ask him to sleep with her last night? Was it an open offer? Or did she just want him to lay with her. Oh shoot, she was wearing his shirt! But she'd had this one for over a year. No, she must have just wanted him to sleep next to her. Then WHY was he SMILING like that?

"Sorry," he whispered uncomfortably. She looked different. Older, maybe. Her hair was simple and not full of strings and beads and all that shit she had strung up in it day after day. She just had it pulled back. No make up this early. No scarves and frills, just a plain white t-shirt, HIS plain white t-shirt that he put on her last night when he left her alone in her bed like a gentleman, yes, a gentleman. She looked so natural, so open, so bare.

She looked beautiful.

"You look nice," he said. Paine choked on her coffee.

"What?" Rikku gasped.

"Nothing!" Gippal tried to cover it up.

"Gippal?" Buddy asked,

"What! I didn't say anything to her!" Gippal nearly jumped out of his chair.

"Excuse me?" Buddy raised a confused brow.

"Nothing. What?" Gippal looked up the long table at Buddy. He was several seats away at the head of the table past Tobli and his team. Rikku was trying to cover her blushing cheeks.

"I just wanted to check in on your progress and see if there was anything you needed," Buddy said, still eyeing Gippal strangely.

"Oh," Gippal was turning red himself. He looked down for a moment and caught his breath, then looked back up at Buddy. Paine was looking at him with anticipation to see how he'd get out of this. "I'm concerned that I may need a team or at least an assistant. I can run everything, but I don't know if I can carry it all and set it all up if we need it done in a hurry," Gippal replied.

"Perfect, that brings me to my next item of business. Tidus?" Buddy looked up from a list in front of him to the other head of the table where Tidus sat lazily daydreaming at Yuna.

"Yeah?" he looked startled.

"You're going to be Gippal's assistant."

"What! Him?" Gippal yelped.

"You needed an assistant? Here's your assistant. He's in the off season for blitzball, he's available, and the paperwork is already signed, so it's settled. Moving on," Buddy kept going.

"Hey," Tidus leaned over Paine to Gippal. "I don't really know a whole lot about machina," he winced.

"Get out," Gippal said flatly. Yuna gave him a warning look. "Don't worry, you just have to carry it, I'll do the rest."

"Okay! Got it!" Tidus gave Gippal a thumbs up. Paine rolled her eyes and passed a potion across the table to Rikku.

"Thanks," Rikku sighed, feeling miserable from more than just her hangover. What had she possibly done to make him act like this? No 'Cid's Girl' this morning, no wise cracks, he told her she LOOKED NICE for crying out loud. She drank the vile from Paine and rubbed her tired eyes some more.

"Here's one for you too, if you need it," Paine slid a bottle next to Gippal's plate beside her.

"Nah, I'm okay," he replied.

"Just take it, Ass," Paine smiled.

"I'm fine," he insisted.

"You're such a pain! Just take it!" Rikku hissed across the table. Buddy was deep into a boring discussion about finance with Tobli and his crew so the argument between the Gullwings at the other end of the table was going unnoticed.

"Maybe he wasn't as foolish as two get as drunk as you two," Yuna snapped.

"Oh trust me, he was," Paine tried not to laugh.

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Yuna," Gippal gave Paine a dirty look, then smiled a little and swung his arm over the back of her chair.

"Rikku, I am not liking you going out and getting drunk with this zylgycc," (jackass) Brother spoke up. He'd been sitting beside Rikku trying to pay attention to what Buddy was saying the entire time.

"I'm not a zylgycc!" Gippal sat up, offended.

"Yac oui yna!" (yes you are) Rikku and Brother shouted back in unison. Buddy and the PR team looked down the table at them. All three Al Bhed shrank away.

"Mecdah, Bnehlacc. E's zicd dnoehk du pa hela du oui!" (Listen, Princess. I'm just trying to be nice to you!) Gippal growled through gritted teeth.

"Tuh'd pudran! E tuh'd fyhd du pa hela du oui!" (Don't bother! I don't want to be nice to you!) Rikku crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. This was awful. She wanted to go home.

"Dryd'c hud fryd oui cyet MYCD HEKRD!" (That's not what you said LAST NIGHT) Gippal smirked a despicable smirk at her across the table. Rikku's mouth fell open in shock. Brother jumped out of his chair and reached across the table, grabbing Gippal by the throat.

"Tuh'd oui AJAN dymg ypuid ran mega dryd pavuna ran vysemo!" (Don't you EVER talk about her like that before her family!) Brother yelled, giving Gippal a shake.

"What are they saying?!" Tidus gasped.

"HEY!" Buddy shouted.

"These two were just telling Gippal what a jackass he's being," Paine replied, nonchalant. Brother released Gippal and took his seat but did not take his eyes off of him.

"Is he being a jackass?" Tidus asked her.

"In this situation?" she glared at Gippal. "YES." Rikku hid her face in her hands, Yuna looked appalled and Gippal rubbed his neck as his breath returned.

"You'll be bunking down this way," Buddy lead Gippal down a corridor in the belly of the ship.

"Luxury accommodations I see," Gippal joked, adjusting the pack on his shoulder. He and Buddy had been awkwardly silent since breakfast until now.

"Tidus and Yuna moved into one of the last empty cabins on the ship, so we've prepared something else for you," Buddy stopped at the end of the hallway before a door labeled STORAGE #3.

"Wow, Buddy. You've really outdone yourself," Gippal said flatly as he let out a big sigh.

"You can change your mind right now?" Buddy shrugged.

"Right below the engines, huh? I'm sure this was a coincidence," Gippal raised his eyebrows as Buddy opened the door. The boxes and equipment inside had been lazily pushed to one wall. An old cot had been unfolded against the other. There was a crudely strung up dim work light hanging in the middle of the room. "Well. Five stars indeed, Buddy."

"I don't need your attitude," Buddy warned.

"But you do need my skills. They're a package deal," Gippal grinned.

"Why don't I let you get settled then," Buddy sighed.

"Can't wait to have Rikku down here to my new place to show her what FINE quarters I was given by the boss. All alone, floors under all of you, right below that darn loud engine, why, no one would ever possibly be able to hear what was going on in my fancy suite," Gippal smiled that cocky smile. Buddy's face fell. He hadn't thought of that. Any of that.

"Stay away from her," Buddy pointed hard at Gippal.

"I'll do my best, pal. But I can't guarantee that she'll stay away from me? Unless of course, you've redrawn up her contract?" Gippal's smile got wider and cockier.

"If you hurt her? I WILL kill you," Buddy growled.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Gippal replied, more sincere than Buddy could have guessed.

"I'm serious, Gippal," Buddy said, his face stone. "She cries once and you're fired and you're dead."

"It's a deal," Gippal replied, his face just as serious. Buddy turned on his heel and stalked off towards the bridge.

"Paine!" Rikku exclaimed once they were back in their room trying to get ready for the day ahead.

"Yes?" Paine was organizing things in her trunk at the foot of her bed.

"I need to know what I did last night," Rikku said. Paine opened her mouth to speak but Rikku cut her off. "And no teasing! I want the truth! I don't need you Paine-ing it up to make me look stupid!" Rikku huffed, plopping down in front of her own trunk.

"Well, you got drunk and d

anced with Buddy to make Gippal feel bad about himself," Paine began.

"I did not! I danced with Buddy because I wanted to dance and Gippal was being a butthead!" Rikku snapped.

"Fine. Then I was gone for most of that time you were dancing," Paine continued.

"Where were you?" Rikku asked, sitting up on her knees and rummaging through her things.

"Nowhere," Paine said quickly.

"Wait, where were you?" Rikku pressed further.

"I ran into someone from my Crimson Squad days. I was catching up," Paine shrugged.

"Ooo, who was it?" Rikku asked, grinning as she shuffled through some of her garment grids.

"Do you want me to tell you what happened or not?" Paine snapped.

"Fine! Fine!" Rikku held her hands up.

"Do you remember playing that sorry bartender for all he was worth?" Paine asked.

"Vaguely," Rikku muttered, looking away.

"Do you remember taking shots with me and Gippal?" Paine carried on, setting aside some folded shirts.

"Not really?" Rikku winced.

"Well, you told him that you were going to be nice to him from now on,' Paine hid a laugh.

"I did not!" Rikku insisted.

"You did."

"Oh goodness!"

"And then you passed out and he carried you home." Paine said.

"He did not!" Rikku gasped, sitting back on her feet.

"He did. I stuck around to find Buddy and when I got back here, you were in bed and you were asking him to stay with you," Paine finished.

"I DID NOT!" Rikku cried.

"You did."

"Oh no! This is NOT okay!" Rikku yelped, biting her thumb.

"He wouldn't do it?" Paine offered after a few beats of silence.

"What?" Rikku snapped her head towards Paine.

"Stay with you. He kept telling you to go to sleep," Paine smirked.

"Well YOU were here! Of course he's not going to get in bed with me!" Rikku gestured at Paine. "Even HE'S not THAT bad!"

"He didn't know I was here," Paine said calmly. Rikku just stared back at her for a few moments trying to figure her out.

"Shut up," Rikku broke into a smile.

"No. I'm serious."

"I don't believe you," Rikku put her hands on her hips.

"Well, believe what you want, but that's what I saw. I have to head to the bridge and take care of some things for Buddy. I suggest you take a NAP," Paine laughed over her shoulder as she headed for the cabin below.

"Fryd tet oui tu du ran mycd hekrd?!" (what did you do to her last night) Buddy yelled at Gippal. The two had been grumbling at one another in Al Bhed for the past ten minutes. Paine was sitting at Shinra's console putting some files together for Buddy.

"Fryd? E teth'd tu yhodrehk du ran!" (What? I didn't do anything to her!) Gippal cried.

"Cra'c y sacc! Yht E ghuf cra fahd rusa fedr OUI!" (She's a mess! And I know she went home with YOU) Buddy warned.

"I teth'd tu yhodrehk!" (I didn't do anything!) Gippal insisted.

"Tuach'd muug mega ed, Bym. Fuimt Pnudran ryja paah tufh ouin drnuyd ev oui fanah'd ib ymm hekrd vilgehk ran?!" (Doesn't look like it, Pal. Would Brother have been down your throat if you weren't up all night fucking her?!) Buddy yelled.

"Oui vilgehk bnelg!" (You fucking prick!) Gippal looked Buddy up and down, disgusted.

"You know I can hear AND UNDERSTAND everything you're saying, right?" Paine yelled without looking up from her work.

"Fro't oui ryja du ku yht ramb ran maynh uin myhkiyka?" (Why'd you have to go and help her learn out language?) Buddy snapped.

"Excuse me?" Paine turned in her chair.

"Sorry, Paine. I'm just worked up," Buddy said sweetly to her. "Cause I wouldn't want to see a sweet girl like Rikku get HURT!" Buddy shoved Gippal.

"Hey! Watch it!" Gippal glared back at him

"I don't want you messing with her!" Buddy got out through gritted teeth.

"I'm not messing with her!" Gippal yelled back.

"I never should've have called you!" Buddy yelled.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm so GLAD to do you this favor, Buddy. Remember? The giant favor I'm doing for you? You fucking OWE ME," Gippal yelled and stormed off towards the elevator.

"AAARRRGGGH!" Buddy cried out once Gippal was gone. "He is so FRUSTRATING!"

"Take it easy or he'll find a loophole in his contract and take off. Then we'll all be shit out of luck," Paine said seriously, trying to calm Buddy down.

"He doesn't have a contract," Buddy said after a long silence.

"What?" Paine cried.

"He can leave whenever he wants," Buddy sighed, putting a hand over his eyes.

"Are you paying him under the table?" Paine looked curiously at Buddy.

"I'm not paying him at all," Buddy admitted, a defeated look on his face. Paine's mouth hung open.

"He volunteered?" Paine swallowed hard.

"He said he didn't need the money."

"But he's broke! The Machine Faction going under and everything? Selling out to New Home?" Paine trailed off. Oh god. He really WAS still in love with her. Hard.

"I know, he wouldn't sign. He says she just wanted the opportunity to be here," Buddy replied softly. "And now I know why."

"Look, Buddy, it's not what you think!" she tried.

"Save it, Paine," he held up a hand and walked away from her.


	6. Back to Besaid

"Paine!" Rikku yelled, chasing after Paine on the airship. She'd been looking for the warrior everywhere. "Paine, wait!"

"What?" Paine sighed, pausing before the elevator.

"What did I REALLY say?" Rikku asked, out of breath. She'd run through just about every hallway on the ship hoping to get a moment alone with Paine before everyone disembarked for the night.

"What?" Paine squinted, confused.

"Did I want him to like, you know, SLEEP with me? Or just kind of sleep with me, you know, like, actual sleep?" Rikku asked, making hand gestures.

"Oh goodness, are you still harping on this?" Paine groaned.

"I need to know!" Rikku cried.

"Your exact words, as I heard them in Spiran AND Al Bhed, were 'stay with me'," Paine replied flatly.

"Stay with me?!" Rikku put her hands over her mouth.

"Yes."

"OH NO!" Rikku shouted, her hands still clamped over her face.

"That's a hell of a lot better than some of your other colorful requests I've had the pleasure of overhearing you make through the years," Paine smirked.

"Dr. P, I am REALLY not in the mood!" Rikku warned.

"What's the big deal?" Paine shrugged and pushed the button to call the elevator.

"If I wanted to just have sex with him and was asking for that, I could EASILY blame THAT on being just drunk. But I wanted him to stay! I wanted to BE with him! He's going to think I actually LIKE him!" Rikku whined, her hand over her eyes.

"DO you like him?" Paine grinned.

"NO!" Rikku snapped, giving Paine a shove.

"Just checking," Paine replied smugly.

"What should I DO?" Rikku moaned just as the elevator opened.

"About what, Kid?"

Gippal.

Of course.

"Nothing," Paine and Rikku blurted at once.

"It always is," he smiled and pushed between them, a bag thrown over his shoulder and headed towards the ramp. Paine pushed a slack-jawed Rikku into the elevator.

"What the heck was THAT?" Rikku pointed after him, her voice high pitched.

"I don't know?" Paine shrugged.

"This is bad, Dr. P. This is REAL bad," Rikku was pacing in the elevator.

"What's bad?" Yuna asked as the elevator opened in the cabin.

"AH! They're everywhere!" Rikku jumped.

"Excuse me?" Yuna laughed.

"She's jumpy. She didn't take a nap like I suggested," Paine told Yuna as she shoved Rikku into the cabin.

"Well, don't be too long, you two. Wakke and Lulu are expecting us." Yuna said in a sing song voice and the doors promptly closed behind her.

"She's driving me crazy!" Rikku had her hands on her head as she stomped up the stairs to her and Paine's room.

"She's just getting old," Paine snorted.

"She's not getting old, she's getting frustrated," Rikku sighed, snatching a bag off her bed she had packed earlier.

"At what?" Paine asked, doing the same.

"Well," Rikku began over her shoulder as they descended the stairs. "You didn't hear it from me? But SOMEBODY isn't taking very good care of Yunie's needs in the bedroom."

"You're joking!" Paine laughed.

"She got drunk in Bevelle a few weeks ago when she had to appear at Baralai's conference and told me all about it. He sucks in bed." Rikku replied matter-of-factly.

"Wow. That explains a lot of mysteries," Paine nodded.

"I know, right? She's so in love with him but he can't get her off. What a shame," Rikku sighed waiting for the elevator again

"It's pitiful."

"Don't say anything to her about, she'll murder me if she finds out I told you," Rikku said sternly to Paine.

"I'll try not to being it up at dinner," Paine said sarcastically, stepping into the elevator.

"Hey! You made it!" Wakka cried out as the crew started filing off the ship. Rikku and Paine scurried in at the last minute. Wakka and most of the Besaid Aurochs were cutting up fire wood for beach fires over the next few days.

"Of course we did! Hi Wakka!" Yuna gave him a hug.

"How's the fam?" Rikku hugged him next.

"Ah Rikku! Good to have you back on Besaid!" Wakka hugged her tight. "Lu's good, she's back at the house waiting for you girls! She's cookin' up a storm! Vidina's around, playing with some of the kids in the village."

"Great! We'll head into town and help Lulu get dinner going," Yuna smiled sweetly and hoisted her pack up onto her shoulder.

"Sounds good to me, Yuna. We're getting some fire wood ready out here, we'll be in by dinner," Wakka patted her on the shoulder.

"Do you need a few extra hands?" Tidus asked. Gippal and Buddy sighed, realizing they had just been volunteered.

"Of course! Grab an ax!" Wakka grinned. "You three get going! Lu might need back up in the kitchen!"

"I think I'd rather cut firewood," Paine rolled her eyes, but followed Yuna and Rikku all the same.

"Are you cooking for the whole village?" Rikku laughed at the immense amount of pots and pans bubbling on Lulu's stove as the trio walked in. She had food everywhere.

"Well, between your crew and Wakka's team it certainly does feel like it," Lulu smiled sipping from a glass of red wine. "But come in! Sit down! Would you like a glass of wine?" Lulu gestured to the kitchen table that was covered in breads and vegetables.

"I would LOVE a glass of wine," Rikku sighed, exasperated. She'd already had enough of this tour and it hadn't even started yet. Rikku helped herself to glasses and moved around Lulu's kitchen with ease. It had been a while, but she knew where everything was.

"Can we help you Lulu? What do you need?" Yuna asked, standing by the stove and peering into the pots.

"Oh Yuna, no, please. Sit. Drink. I will take care of all of this," Lulu waved a hand over the stove and counters and waved the other at the table urging the younger woman to sit.

"Here, Yunie. Chill out," Rikku set a glass of wine down in front of Yuna and handed another to Paine.

"No thank you, Rikku," Yuna held up a hand.

"Yunie. You are being impolite, our nice hostess, Lulu has offered you a glass of wine," Rikku rested a hand on her hip and drank from her own glass.

"I think our Rikku has a point," Lulu smirked. Yuna scowled. "So tell me, Rikku. Where have you been? What have you been up to? I feel like we haven't been so lucky as to be graced by your presence in weeks now," Lulu said, stirring a few pots lightly on the stove.

"Well, I've been doing some traveling and some relaxing," Rikku replied. "I was in New Home for a few weeks with the family, spending some time with Pops and helping him out with work stuff. He's getting all huffy about me taking over the family business," Rikku said, her voice almost shy.

"Why's that?" Lulu asked, tasting what looked like a sauce. She shrugged, then dumped the rest of her glass of wine into the pot, stirred, tasted again and nodded.

"He's just being a meanie about everything. Yelling at me to 'find a good upstanding husband, Rikku!' and 'I'm not going to be around forever, Sweetheart! Our people need a new leader!' and things like that," Rikku imitated her father with an impersonation so spot on that all the girls laughed. "I'm not ready to get married, or be in charge, you know?" Rikku shrugged.

"What about Brother?" Yuna asked.

"I think we all know the answer to that," Lulu and Paine exchanged a silent laugh. "Rikku has always been keen to taking over. The Al Bhed love her and idolize her," Lulu shot Rikku a smile.

"What can I say?" Rikku shrugged modestly.

"Perhaps you should start acting like a leader," Yuna grumbled, giving in and sipping her wine.

"Hey!" Rikku cried out.

"Lulu, tell Rikku she needs to grow up. She won't listen to me!" Yuna looked to the mage.

"I think Rikku has done a fine job growing into herself?" Lulu said, opening the oven and looking inside.

"Yes, and more than half of the male population of Spira is well aware," Yuna crossed her arms over her chest.

"Whoa! Yunie! Low blow!" Rikku gaped at Yuna.

"Now, now. Our little Rikku is just enjoying the finer things in life. We all have our temptations. The Al Bhed have always been much freer, Yuna. You know that," Lulu poured herself a new glass.

"I'm Al Bhed too!" Yuna pointed to herself.

"Psh. Barely." Rikku laughed.

"Oh Rikku, stop," Lulu waved a hand. "If you want to explore your sexuality and explore nooks and crannies to life that you haven't seen yet, or nooks and crannies to Spira you haven't seen yet, god willing there are any left, then you go right ahead. You're young, you're strong and you're beautiful. You will make a fine leader with a respectable husband when the right time and the right man are upon you." Lulu hugged Rikku around the shoulders with one arm.

"Tell that to her," Rikku pointed at Yuna.

"Well, Rikku, perhaps the right man was upon you just last night?" Paine raised an eyebrow.

"Can it, Paine! I told you I don't like him!" Rikku tensed up, her fists clenched by her sides.

"What's this? Perhaps the right time is upon us?" Lulu joked, making a mock gasp at Yuna.

"This is news to me?" Yuna sat up straighter.

"Fine. You're just going to find out anyway, so I may as well tell you," Rikku scowled. "Shinra had to leave the tour."

"Why, Rikku. I know I said you ought to explore, but he is awfully young," Lulu tried to fight a tipsy laugh that was begging to be let out. Paine laughed into her glass.

"Oh, GOD! NO!" Rikku put a hand over her face, reddening at the thought.

"I'm sorry. Please, go on," Lulu busied herself at the stove again.

"So Buddy was in a jam because the kid is the only one who knows how to work our mega sound system. So who does he call the day before we leave for our big world tour?" Rikku threw a hand in the air.

"I knew it," Yuna said, her voice and smile smug.

"You did not!" Rikku snapped.

"Last night at your apartment! I told you! You two are going to work this out!" Yuna said.

"We're not working anything out! We're OVER! ALL DONE!" Rikku yelled. "We're going to be friends now, but there is NOTHING left!" Rikku huffed, crossing her arms over her chest and blowing her bangs out of her eyes.

"Buddy called Gippal?" Lulu asked Paine quietly.

"Oh yeah," Paine nodded.

"And fine, so MAYBE we went out last night and MAYBE we got drunk, no big deal! Nothing happened! We just had fun!" Rikku defended herself.

"Just the two of you?" Lulu asked.

"No. Paine was there," Rikku shrugged.

"And Buddy. Can't forget Buddy," Paine smirked.

"Oh goodness, I wish I could," Rikku sighed.

"Does he still have a bit of a school boy crush on Miss Rikku?" Lulu asked Paine.

"I'm afraid so," Paine hid a laugh.

"It's not funny!" Rikku yelped.

"Yes it is," Paine waved a hand.

"I think you should stop acting like a girl about it and start looking at things like an adult," Yuna said quickly.

"Yunie, what in our history together makes you think I'm going to do something like THAT?" Rikku asked.

"Absolutely nothing! Which is the problem!" Yuna snapped.

"Okay, Okay! Who wants cake?" Lulu set some dessert down in front of Rikku and Yuna.

"That doesn't work on us anymore, Lulu. We're not six," Yuna looked at up at Lulu from her seat at the table. Rikku sat down and took some of the dessert. Her comment aside, Yuna did too.

"I'll take my chances," Lulu smiled sweetly at Yuna. "So how did it go? Being friends?" Lulu asked Rikku sincerely.

"Not bad, as far as I remember. And he was nice to me today. Too nice. It's a little fishy," Rikku washed her cake down with a swig of her wine.

"He told her she looked nice at breakfast," Paine laughed.

"Did you look nice?" Lulu asked Rikku.

"I just got out of bed!"

"I've seen you look radiant in the morning?" Lulu shrugged.

"She didn't look radiant," Paine put in.

"Pardon me Miss Warrior-pants-and-some-tank-top-I-found-on-the-floor-just-as drunk-as-I-was!" Rikku scoffed.

"Never said I looked radiant. Just that you didn't. Not enough to garner a 'you look nice' from the player himself," Paine replied.

"That's true," Rikku sighed.

"Ladies, let's not stress about it and just enjoy this time we have together, hm? Now who needs their glass topped off?" Lulu smiled.


	7. Dinner and a Baby

A large table was set up outside in the back yard of Wakka and Lulu's home. There was plenty of food and drinks for everyone. Wakka and his team of helpers came flooding into the yard just as Lulu was setting down the last dish. A handful of the Aurochs sat down at the table. The Celsius men stopped to say hello to Lulu first, and helped themselves to drinks.

"Hey Sweetheart!" Wakka kissed Lulu's cheek. He was carrying Vidina on his shoulders. He leaned down and kissed Lulu's forehead in an awkward toddler way.

"Ah, my boys!" Lulu smiled up at her son and tapped his nose gently. He giggled and smiled back at her. She reached up and took a hold of him and pulled him into a hug, the two year old sitting on her hip.

"Lu, this all looks great! You've out done yourself again!" Wakka kissed her again, his hand resting on her lower back.

"Look at this happy family over here," Gippal grinned, walking up to the group.

"Hello, Gippal. I didn't realize we were going to be lucky enough to have you with us as well. The girls were just telling me you saved the day with the sound system," Lulu smiled at him.

"Oh yeah, just doing Buddy a favor. Look at this guy! He's shooting right up, huh?" Gippal ruffled his hand through Vidina's bright red hair. The youngster's eye lids were heavy. The long day playing in the sun was wearing on him.

"He's getting awfully sleepy, yah? I'll put him to bed after he eats." Wakka gave Lulu another quick kiss on her cheek. "Gip, I'm gonna get a beer, you want one?"

"Yeah, please," Gippal replied. He couldn't help but smile at the child in Lulu's arms.

"He's growing up quick," Gippal said.

"Seems like a lot of us are," Lulu smiled at Gippal who looked back confused.

"Here you go, Bruddah," Wakka slapped a beer into Gippal's palm.

"Thanks," Gippal opened it and took a swig. The men were all hot and sweaty from working in the woods. The warm, wet Besaid air wasn't helping. "I'm gonna wash up, it's great to see you again, Lu," Gippal said pointing over his shoulder at the house.

"Of course, always a treat," Lulu smiled at him before planting another kiss on the sleepy Vidina's head.

Gippal walked in the back door and peeled off his filthy t-shirt. His bags were around here somewhere. Most of the Aurochs were at the table shirtless anyway. He found his bag by an end table and tossed the work shirt on top and headed for the bathroom. Hanging on the wall in the hallway were about a dozen framed photos. Vidina on the beach, he looked like he might have been taking his first steps. Wakka and Lulu at their wedding. They looked so in love, making their vows. Yuna as a little girl playing in the woods. Wakka and the most recent roster of the Aurochs. The last photo by the bathroom door was of Rikku and Vidina. Rikku was holding his hands while he walked in front of her. By the way she was wearing her hair, Gippal guessed it was about a year old. She was so happy, her mouth was open in laughter. God, she was pretty. He was such an idiot sometimes.

He washed his hands and ran some water over his face. After what a moron he made of himself at breakfast, the last thing he wanted to do was sit down at another public meal with her. And her brother. And her cousin. And her best friends. And the entire Besaid Aurochs Blitzball team.

"You've really done it this time," He sighed to himself as he looked in the mirror. He straightened his eye patch and wiped some water over his hair and headed back for the yard. Forget the shirt. It was too hot here anyway. As he made his way to the back door, Rikku was coming in through it and stopped short.

"Oh," she blurted. Shirtless! Why was he shirtless!

"Sorry," he blushed.

"It's okay," she blushed as well.

"I was just-"

"I'm going to the kitchen-"

"Heading outside to eat-"

"Vidina's juice cup is in there-"

"Sorry, I didn't see you-"

"Lulu forgot it, I was just going to get it-"

"It's okay!" He said over her, stopping the two from babbling on top of one another's words.

"Right," she shifted uneasily. They made eye contact for an instant and both immediately looked away. What he wouldn't give to kiss her.

"His juice," Gippal reminded her.

"Yes!" She held up a finger. "I was getting that," Rikku awkwardly took off for the kitchen.

"Son of a bitch!" Gippal hissed once she as gone, hitting himself in the forehead with his palm. He shook his head and walked back out to the table. There was an empty seat next to Paine. She was always a safe bet around this crowd. He and she were the only two who weren't old pals from Yuna's pilgrimage or earlier. They stuck together at Besaid gatherings.

"Glad to see you dressed for dinner," Paine said sarcastically.

"Shut up, Paine. I don't know how you prance around in that bondage suit. This island is hot as hell," Gippal took a drink from his bottle of beer.

"It breathes?" Paine shrugged.

"Alright everybody! Let's get to eating!" Wakka called form the head of the table. Lulu the ever elegant hostess sat to his right and Vidina sat to his left. Gippal looked around the table as Rikku came out the back door and set Vidina's juice cup down in front of him and made her way to her seat. Oh no. The only empty chair was directly across from him.

"Ur Hu," (Oh No) Rikku whimpered as she sat down. She only spoke loud enough for Tidus beside her to hear it.

"You okay?" he leaned down to her.

"I'm fine," she lied.

"I want to just tell you all how happy I am to have you all at my home," Wakka stood up and held up his drink.

"Oh here he goes," Lulu smiled up at him.

"I know we have a wide mix of beliefs at the table, but you can thank whomever and whatever you want for this night we've got together. For this full table that my lovely wife Lulu has prepared. For the safe arrival of the Gullwings and their crew. For family and friends, and another shut out against the Al Bhed Pscychs, no offense, Rikku," Wakka winked at her and everyone at the table laughed. "But mostly for the women at this table that have made Spira a safe place for my son to grow up," He tipped his drink to Yuna, Rikku and Paine.

"Wakka, stop it," Yuna blushed.

"Now let's eat!" He clinked his bottle against Lulu's wine glass. "Cheers, everyone!"

Dinner came and went with only a few awkward eye locks and accidentally kicked feet under the table. Rikku excused herself as soon as possible to help with cleaning up and getting Vidina to bed. She helped the tired toddler into his pajamas.

"Rikku! You've already got him dressed for bed?" Lulu dried her hands on a dish rag. Rikku had Vidina by the hand and led him into the kitchen.

"He wanted to come say good night!" Rikku grinned. She loved kids. Especially this one. She loved being Auntie Rikku.

"Sweetheart, don't! This is your day off!" Lulu urged.

"Oh come on, Lu. I LOVE this little guy! Isn't that right?" Rikku scooped Vidina up and sat him on her hip, rubbing noses with him. He laughed, and his childish giggles turned into a big yawn. "Look at him, he's pooped! I'll put him to bed," Rikku assured Lulu.

"Alright, thank you, that's a big help, actually," Lulu smiled. "Daddy! Come in here! Aunt Rikku is going to put Vidina to bed! Come say goodnight!" Lulu called out the window to the back yard.

"Sorry, Babe." Wakka kissed Lulu quickly on the lips. "Just tossing the ball around. Where's my little monster!" Wakka pretended to growl at Vidina. He giggled and curled up into a ball against Rikku. "Come here, Big guy!" Wakka picked up his son and kissed the top of his head, wrapping him into a big hug. "Are you going to let Auntie Rikku read to you tonight?"

"Yup," Vidina nodded.

"Are you going to go to sleep for her? Be good for you Aunt Rikku?" Wakka asked him quietly.

"Mm hm." He rubbed his eyes with his fists.

"Alright, Rik. He's all yours," Wakka handed his son back to Rikku.

"I'll be out in a bit, guys. If not, I'll meet you down at the beach," Rikku called over her shoulder as she headed into the baby's room. He was falling asleep in her arms. She laid him down in his crib and started poking through his book shelf. His crib was low to the ground and he could look up at her walking around. He watched her with smiling dark eyes. "Okay, Little Buddy. Do you have a favorite?"

"Nope," he yawned again.

"Well! You're not making this very easy, Mister!" She joked, a hand on her hip as she pulled out a book of traditional children's stories and sat down in the rocker beside his bed. He whined a little and reached up at her. "You want to sit with me?" She leaned over him and grinned. He nodded. She pulled him out of the crib and cuddled him in her lap and propped the book up for the both of them and began to read.

Wakka sent Gippal into the house to get another case of beer from the kitchen. He struggled to find it and finally spotted it under the kitchen sink and hoisted it over his shoulder and headed for the back door again. He paused when he heard someone talking in Vidina's room off the living room. It sounded like Rikku.

He stood quietly outside the baby's room and peeked in. She was sitting in a rocking chair with Vidina all curled up with his blankie in her lap. His head was leaned against her chest and he was sound asleep. She was reading from an ancient looking kids' book, doing different voices for different characters. One hand held the book on her knees and the other gently stroked the back of his head while he slept.

Her hair was down and brushed out. She always looked older with it down. She was back to her usual clothes, nothing much. She looked so perfect in the chair, her long legs crossed, Vidina perfectly fit against her. She was reading to him even though he had long since fallen asleep. Her eyes darted to his angelic little face now and again to make sure he was still in dreamland, and her hands rubbed his head and back. She was soft and gentle. Gippal leaned on the doorframe, the bottles in the box on his shoulder rattled and she looked up, startled.

"Gippal!" she gasped.

"Sorry! I was getting beer, and I heard you talking, I just, sorry," he fumbled. He was still in just his work pants and shoes. Stupid shirtless Gippal getting her all in a tizzy like the old days. He was leaning one elbow on the door frame, the other arm held his beer securely on his shoulder. The position he was in made him look more toned than ever. The blush in his cheeks was too cute for words.

"It's okay, I just don't want to wake him," Rikku whispered.

"He's awfully cute," Gippal smiled and looked down.

"Here, can you hold this?" she held the book out with one hand.

"Um, ah, sure," Gippal awkwardly set his case down and stepped into the room. He took the book from Rikku and set it on the book shelf.

"Look at how sweet he is," she whispered, turning him in her arms a bit.

"He's getting big so fast," Gippal whispered as well, carefully brushing some bright red hair out of the child's eyes.

"It's hard to believe," Rikku agreed. She was so wrapped up in Vidina's little hands and long eye lashes she didn't notice Gippal's face right beside hers.

"What is?" he asked, still smiling over Vidina's tiny nose and small feet.

"How quickly things can change," she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He stiffened.

"It is," he agreed.

"Do you want to put him to bed?" Rikku asked after a long lull between them.

"Naw," Gippal sighed, taking a step away from her. She hated admitting she was disappointed. "I'm not very good at it."

"Oh come, on, it's not hard, he's almost two, you won't break him," Rikku joked.

"I don't know," Gippal scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Here, come here," Rikku, nodded her head. "Just hold him like this," she put the sleeping Vidina in Gippal's arms. "Now just lay him in bed and tuck him in! Easy peasy!" Rikku smiled, still talking in a whisper. Gippal followed her instructions and pulled Vidina's blanket up to his chest, picking up a stuffed fish animal and cuddling it next him.

"Wow, look at him," Gippal smiled, looking over the edge of the crib.

"Not so hard?" Rikku shrugged and smiled up at Gippal. Oh no, the smile, he couldn't handle the smile, not after an evening of casual drinking and good food.

"Yeah," Gippal said nervously. "I gotta get this beer outside, Wakka's waiting for me," Gippal scooped up his case of beer nervously and backed out of the room. "See you on the beach!" He called softly and ducked out the back door.


	8. Parties and talking

"What kept you? Was he fussing?" Lulu asked once Rikku appeared on the beach. They had a bonfire going and there were chairs scattered about. Lulu and Paine were sitting by the fire in beach chairs, each with a glass of wine. Yuna and Tidus were sharing a blanket across the fire from them, absorbed in one another. Most of the Aurochs with Wakka and Gippal were playing a game of ball a few yards off, the Celsius men joining in on occasion, but mostly watching and cheering, beer in hand.

"Paine!" Wakka came running over. "Paine! We need one more to even up the teams, yah? Come play!" Wakka urged, grabbing Paine by the hand.

"I can't wait," Paine rolled her eyes, then gave a smile and headed over towards the game. Rikku gave a hoot of encouragement and Lulu tipped her glass to them.

"Can I get you anything Rikku? Did you get a drink? Did you have enough to eat?Lulu asked once the two were left alone.

"Oh, I'm fine," Rikku gestured to the beer beside her in the sand.

"So tell me more," Lulu sat up a bit. "I feel as though we were not in the environment before where you could be completely honest," Lulu flicked her eyes across the fire to where Yuna lay on her blanket with Tidus watching the sky.

"It's not that I can't be, it's just," Rikku trailed off looking for the right words. "She and I are in such different places right now, Lu, you know? It's hard," Rikku shrugged, her voice getting a little smaller. "She's so sure of everything. She's all set. Nothing left to worry about. They're going to get married, have a couple of kids and live happily ever after in Besaid. That's all she's wanted since she met him." Rikku tugged off her boots and dug her bare feet into the soft sand.

"And you? What place are you in?" Lulu asked calmly.

"I don't even know!" Rikku sighed, dropping her hands by her sides in a huff. "Now that there's no Spira-wide crisis for me to solve everyone wants to know what my plans are. I never made any long term ones! I was never sure I was going to be alive to see tomorrow, and even if I was, half the time Spira wasn't expected to BE HERE! How's a girl supposed to make plans with world destruction threats all the time?" Rikku yelped and Lulu laughed.

"Oh Rikku, you can't be serious."

"Only a little," Rikku admitted, wrinkling her nose and digging her feet further into the sand.

"And the rest of the truth?" Lulu asked.

"I guess I'm just not ready," Rikku shrugged. "Once I'm married and I take over? I can't be hopping on the Celsius to see what's doing in the Omega Ruins, I can't pop over to Luca for the day to catch up with friends and check out a new club, or just hit Kilika for a day to lay on the beach? I don't know that I'm ready to give up all the fun!" Rikku half smiled against her will.

"Now, I don't think you'd have to give up everything?" Lulu tried.

"Lulu," Rikku said flatly. "A respectable leader cannot do a keg stand in a miniskirt."

"Well, now, who CAN?" Lulu smirked.

"You know what I mean. I have to stop dressing how I want and stop being myself in order to take on this role that maybe I never really wanted to take in the first place, y'know?" Rikku shrugged.

"Who says that?" Lulu asked in disbelief.

"Everyone. Pops. Yuna," Rikku nodded her head towards her cousin.

"Hm," Lulu let the thoughts roll around in her head before she spoke.

"She thinks I'm being selfish." Rikku said quietly after a long pause.

"That doesn't sound like Yuna," Lulu said.

"She's said it before. It's just hard. She's got this perfect plan and a perfect life. But that perfect plan isn't perfect for everyone, it's perfect for her," Rikku said, tracing lines in the sand around her beer bottle.

"That's absolutely right," Lulu nodded.

"Her and Pops, I swear they're in this together. Always on my case about finding a man, getting my act together, waking up on time, being a responsible adult. I'm barely an adult as it is. Everyone seems to know what's right for me, these days, you know?" Rikku looked up at Lulu.

"They just care about you, Rikku?" Lulu offered.

"I know, I know. I don't have the slightest clue and Yuna seems to think she knows everything. But how do THEY know what's right for me when I have no idea what's right for myself?" Rikku rolled her eyes and took a sip from her drink.

"Perhaps that's exactly the answer you are looking for?" Lulu shrugged.

"Huh?"

"You have never been one to do things by the book, dear," Lulu smiled. "An Al Bhed girl, and you really were just a girl at the time, denouncing her faith and heritage to become a guardian on a pilgrimage of Yevon?" Lulu raised an eyebrow.

"She's like my sister! What was I supposed to do?" Rikku brushed Lulu's blatant compliment off.

"You've lived as a proud upstanding Al Bhed member of Spiran society among Yevonites before and after the tear down of the wall between them. You and your Gullwings have always been unorthodox sphere hunters," Lulu carried on.

"Yeah, saving the world isn't usually in the job description," Rikku grinned.

"I can't say you would treat leading your people unlike any other challenge you faced yet. You will do things your way. You'll do what your heart tells you, and you'll be the same Rikku that has gotten you this far, and it will be perfect for you," Lulu sipped her wine and settled into her chair a little more. Rikku blushed a bit.

"You're so smart, Lulu," Rikku stifled a giggle.

"So they say," Lulu's lips turned up in a smile as she glanced at the stars.

"So how come you haven't helped Yuna? She's turning into a grouch!" Rikku let out a little laugh.

"Ah yes, our Yuna," Lulu sighed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rikku took a glimpse up from her lines in the sand to shoot Lulu a grin.

"You and Yuna have always been different, Rikku." Lulu started.

"Yeah, but how come it never mattered before?" Rikku asked.

"When you were very young, it wasn't apparent enough. But I think you can both agree that when you joined us on Yuna's pilgrimage you were not seeing eye to eye," Lulu said, a knowing smirk. She was always right.

"Yeah," Rikku agreed, a half smile of defeat creeping across her lips.

"You girls have very different needs. Yuna needs structure, a plan, a purpose and answers. You need food, water, the people you love and a full tank of gas," Lulu said with a laugh.

"Don't forget the booze!" Rikku joked, tipping back another swig.

"Precisely," Lulu tacked on. "The older you girls got, the faster you started growing up. Yuna was forced into a very mature role at a very young age, much like yourself living as an heiress with the weight of ruling always around the corner. She's exhausted and is finally passed the stress and the burden. You however, are yet to begin."

"Don't remind me," Rikku grumbled.

"Yuna can't live in the now the way you can. You can return to the same places with the same people again and again and see something different every time. Yuna is too caught up in what happened there before. She is ready to settle down, to have her life and family, but there is so much in the way of that. Your life doesn't help," Lulu went on.

"MY LIFE?! All she says about my life is how I need to CHANGE it!" Rikku sat up straight and pointed to herself.

"No, No, not like that. You and Paine, you live a carefree life. You're both so happy and content with everything you have. She has everything just out of reach. She wants to be able to live like you her way," Lulu tried. "She has everything she wants before her. Her job with you Gullwings performing is one that she loves, and she loves that your fans are always so happy and she can make their day with a hand shake, but she's tired, Rikku. She can't leave you girls, but at the same time, everything she wants isn't working out just right either yet." Lulu was fumbling for words, her wisdom getting clouded by red wine.

"Are you trying to Lulu up the fact that Tidus can't please her and won't give her a ring?" Rikku smirked.

"That is EXACTLY what I'm doing." Lulu replied with a sigh, a hand over her eyes. Rikku burst into laughter.

"Whoa-ho Paine! You sure got a cannon on you! You oughta come out for the next blitz season! I'll put you on my team, yah?" Wakka gave Paine a playful nudge in the shoulder with a fist clamped around his bottle of beer.

"I'll get back to you if this Gullwings thing doesn't work out," Paine joked.

"Bah! No way! Lu'd kill me if I broke up the Gullwings for blitzball," Wakka said loudly enough for the people around him to hear. "But seriously, you call me if this is a farewell tour, yah?" he leaned in close to Paine and spoke quietly.

"Wakka!" She laughed.

"She'd never do it. She can't leave her bestest friend Rikku all by her lonesome," Gippal joked, speaking in a high pitched girly voice. The three friends were standing a good distance from the fire lazily tossing a ball around.

"Well, I suppose I could just leave her with YOU?" Paine taunted, a wise smirk on her face. Gippal's face fell.

"Why would you do a thing like that? You know she can't stand me?" Gippal growled through clenched teeth.

"Aw, no, Gip! Again?" Wakka's shoulders sagged. Gippal looked away and took a long hard drink from his beer.

"What, she and I not being in the same room without destroying one another? That's old news," he finally snapped.

"Y'know, I really thought you kids were gonna make it," Wakka shook his head.

"Oh really, now?" Paine gave Gippal a sarcastic hopeful look. He glared back at her.

"Of course! That's such a shame you two are on the rocks again," Wakka said sincerely.

"I think we're on them for good," Gippal sighed, glancing over where Rikku and Lulu were laughing by the fire. She had put on a jacket in the cool night air and was absentmindedly braiding her hair while she chatted with Lulu. He had played a crummy game earlier, losing his focus every time her laugh carried over to their ball game. He tried to blame it on the beer. Paine knew better than that.

"That's too bad, Bruddah," Wakka sipped his beer. "I thought you and Little Rik were going to be like Lu and I," he said, a huge grin spreading on his face.

"Aw, wouldn't that be the sweetest?" Paine teased.

"Shut up, Paine," Gippal grumbled.

"I can't even begin to tell you. You ever been in love, Paine?" Wakka turned to Paine, his eye lids heavy and his grin persistent.

"What, me? God no," Paine said quickly.

"Oh, Paine! You're missing out, yah? Tell her Gippal!" Wakka urged.

"I've never been in love?" Gippal looked away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Gip," Wakka gave him a dirty look. "Do not stand here and lie to me, you'll ruin this beautiful night we're all having."

"Guys like me, Wakka? We don't fall in love," Gippal shook his head and looked out over the ocean.

"You can lie if you want, Bruddah, but I know!" Wakka wagged a finger in Gippal's face. He swatted the older man away. "I've seen the way you've always looked at her? I know! And not just those legs either! Now, don't tell my wife, but I had to look away on that pilgrimage, yah? Those shorts? HOO BOY! But now? I don't feel as guilty. She's a woman."

"Oh gross," Paine put a hand over her face.

"What? She's a beautiful lady, yah?" Wakka nudged Gippal. "Come on! Gip, are you going to stand here and tell Paine, what is it they call you?" He looked at Paine. She scowled and rolled her eyes.

"Dr. P." She sighed.

"You're gonna lie to Dr. P and tell her you were never in love, Bruddah?" Wakka kept on.

"Wakka, could you just drop it?" Gippal asked.

"Some day, Bruddah. When you meet that woman, and she just drives you CRAZY!" Wakka began. "When she's all you can think about, you can't sleep at night cause the only thing on your mind is her eyes, or the way her hands do this crazy little thing before she thundagas you for being a pig? Ooohhhhman! And how she smells? Her hair! You just want to touch it! You want to know how I knew Lu was the one?" Wakka threw an arm around Gippal.

"Not really?" Gippal sighed.

"I knew that Lu was the girl for me, because all I ever want to do for the rest of my life? Is wake up next to her," Wakka said, poking Gippal in the chest with his index finger to make his point.

"I'm sure those massive breasts have nothing to do with it," Paine joked.

"They are nice, yah?" Wakka winked. "But really, you two. That's the key. I can't get enough of her. I want her there when I wake up, when I fall asleep, every time I come home, she's there and every time it's like the first time, Bruddah! You've never had that?" Wakka looked at Gippal. Gippal tried to push the thoughts of Rikku's straight blond hair out of his head, her stupid tiny waist and her stupid perfect eyes and stupid perfect smile. How badly he DID want to stay with her.

"No," Gippal swallowed hard.

"Aw, you will, yah?" Wakka clapped Gippal on the back.

"Sure," Gippal forced a smile.

"Let's get some more of these and hang out with the gang, yah? Come on!" Wakka waved his arm and headed back to the camp fire where everyone was sitting. Paine grabbed Gippal by the arm to stop him briefly.

"What?" he jerked his arm back and gave her a dirty look.

"You lying sack of shit," She smirked.

"Dr P, don't."

"You're SO in love with her! Why can't you get over yourself?" Paine gave him a gentle shove.

"I'm not in love with her, just leave me alone," Gippal held his hands up.

"What's your problem? I thought you were irresistible?" Paine mimicked his voice.

"Paine, I am going to ask you this one more time," Gippal warned. "Fucking drop it."

"Okay, yikes," Paine crossed her arms over her chest and walked back towards the fire leaving Gippal behind to wallow.


	9. A slow day

The next morning found Paine and Rikku slumped in chairs at Lulu's breakfast table. A few drinks around the fire turned into a few more and reminiscing into the wee hours while having just a few more drinks around the fire. Lulu was at the stove with a pot on for tea. Vidina was sitting on the kitchen floor playing with a ball and a few toy animals. Rikku and Paine had their elbows resting on the table and their faces in their hands.

"Rikku, go get my pack from the living room and get some potions," Paine grumbled.

"You get my pack! I have Al Bhed potions in there!" Rikku snapped.

"Oh good. After all those drinks Wakka put in my hand I feel like I'm poisoned and slow," Paine coughed.

"Tell me about it," Rikku croaked, her voice barely making it up her throat.

"Did you lose your voice? Yuna's going to KILL you!" Paine sat up a little straighter.

"No, no, it'll be back in a little while," Rikku waved a hand. "Vidina! Come here little buddy!" Rikku got the baby's attention and he smiled and ran to her. "Go in the living room and get Auntie Rikku's pack on the couch, okay?" Rikku mustered up the sweetest voice she could. The toddler looked thrilled to please and ran off, his little feet padding against the carpet.

"Hey Hey! My little man!" They could hear Wakka's voice and it was too loud for the morning.

"I hope you remembered to get dressed, Paine and Rikku slept in the living room!" Lulu yelled over her shoulder.

"Oh, barfaga," Rikku groaned. Lulu laughed.

"Not my Sunday best, but I think I pass?" Wakka was wearing some blitz practice shorts and was carrying Vidina by the back of his overalls. Vidina was grinning and clutching Rikku's pack. "Hey, Rik. This little guy had your bag," Wakka held his son up to Rikku's eye level. His happy childish smile was inches from her face.

"Thank you, Vidina. You're being a very good boy," Rikku took the bag and kissed his cheek. Wakka set Vidina back on the floor with his toys.

"Good morning, Sweetheart," He kissed Lulu's cheek.

"Hi Daddy," Lulu purred, leaning back over her shoulder and kissed his lips.

"Give me one of those damn things before I double cast barfaga all over this place," Paine grumbled at Rikku.

"Aw, come on now! Just a little love in the morning, yah?" Wakka nuzzled Lulu a bit, gave her a loving smack on her rear and headed for the front door. Lulu jumped a little and shot him a flirty smile. He winked at her and turned to the other girls. "You two feel better! I'm headed down to the beach to whip that team into shape!"

"We're trying!" Rikku's voice cracked.

"Bye, Babe," he gave an adoring look at Lulu once more and finally ducked out the door.

"You two are awfully frisky first thing in the morning!" Rikku said slyly. Paine threw her potion back in a big hurry. She'd had enough mush.

"And not just in the morning," Lulu deviously raised an eyebrow.

"Lulu, you dog," Rikku took her potion and was back to her giggly self in a matter of moments.

"What can I say?" Lulu shrugged and poured each of the girls a cup of tea and joined them at the table with a mug of her own.

"Years later and still that much spark? Ooh, what I wouldn't give!" Rikku whined, resting her chin in her hand and smiling at Lulu.

"Sounds like an awful lot of work," Paine grumbled.

"Someone's extra grumpy! Do you need another potion?" Rikku asked with a giggle.

"I liked you better with no voice," Paine sipped her tea. It was perfect and relaxing. Not quite relaxing enough to drown out the oohs and ahhs of Lulu's love life, but still, relaxing.

"Ladies, please. We have a full day of fun ahead of us. No whining and no grouching." Lulu said sweetly to Rikku and Paine respectively.

"I need to get my tan on. I'm going to hit the beach today. I gotta look hot for my adoring public!" Rikku held her arms out examining her color.

"You're always tan," Paine said half heartedly.

"I know," Rikku smiled arrogantly and sipped her tea.

Tidus and Gippal were setting up the sound equipment outside of the temple for the evening's concert. They'd carried speakers and amps and boards and crates upon crates of wires and cables out to the stage. That was after they assembled the stage as well. The midday heat of Besaid was bearing down hard. The two workers had stripped down to shorts and work boots trying to get the job done without fainting. Tidus had done his part, he'd carried everything and put it wherever Gippal told him to. Gippal, after lugging all of the speakers and amps and sections of stage off the Celsius, now had to put them all together.

"So, ah, you know how all this stuff works?" Tidus asked. He was watching Gippal plug things into the back of one of the amplifiers.

"Yup," Gippal spoke around a small screw driver clamped between his teeth. He was in no mood to deal with Tidus. It was hot, but not just hot, hot he could handle, he was from the desert after all, but the humidity in this place was killing him. He was frustrated with the previous night's events. He was obviously lying through his teeth but he really had no choice. Was she just drunk and horny? Or did she really want to be with him? To have him stay?

"So how did you learn about all this stuff? Machines and technology?" Tidus asked. He was genuinely interested and it made it more annoying. Gippal had found explaining the technical workings of everything he was carrying to Tidus much like explaining it to a brick wall. But the brick wall didn't keep asking more questions.

"It's kind of an Al Bhed thing," Gippal spit out the screw driver and tightened a tiny screw alongside the cable he'd connected.

"That's cool," Tidus nodded. He seemed satisfied with the answer for a bit. He leaned his elbow on the amp Gippal was working on and watched as Gippal connected this to that and flipped this switch and pushed that button. "So like, do ALL Al Bhed understand this stuff? Are you born with it or something?"

"Practically," Gippal grumbled.

"Wow, that's great. Do you have to like, go to school for it?" Tidus kept on.

"Some of us do," Gippal sighed. "The ones who are really good at it," he added, stepping over to the control board and flipping a few switches. They lit up.

"Awesome." Tidus smiled, wiping some sweat off his brow. Gippal moved over to a set of speakers and started plugging and connecting. There were dozens of colors of cables and all of them seemed to have a very specific place that Gippal seemed to magically know. Tidus watched with enthusiasm. "Did you go to machine school?" he asked after a long lull.

"A bit," Gippal replied trying very hard to keep his cool. What did Yuna see in this guy?

"Yeah, I figured," Tidus shrugged. Gippal worked while Tidus watched and carried things for another hour before they took a break for water and lunch. Both of them were sitting on the edge of the stage relaxing and eating when the fifth group of women to happen by and wave and giggle passed.

"Hi!" one of them giggled. The closer she got, the younger Gippal realized she was and the guiltier he felt about the things he thought about her chest.

"Hey," both guys gave a half hearted wave. She and her friends giggled together and kept walking, glancing over their shoulders.

"So glad to work along side such a famous sports star," Gippal said sarcastically.

"Who, me?" Tidus pointed to himself.

"All the ladies love you," Gippal waved a hand in the direction the teenaged girls had left in.

"Oh, yeah. That," Tidus looked down at the water bottle in his hands.

"Why the long face? Chicks are great," Gippal gave a short laugh and took a long drink of water.

"Nah, I know." Tidus smiled a little, almost embarrassed.

"The wife?" Gippal grinned.

"She's kind of over protective," Tidus said, looking back up at Gippal and squinting in the sun.

"It's cool," Gippal replied, pausing to wave at yet another group of young women who were whispering and staring.

"I mean, she cares, and I understand. I can't DO anything about it, I mean, babes love athletes. I just like playing the game. I'll sign autographs all day, man, but I'm always coming home to her," Tidus replied.

"Touching," Gippal said, resuming his work on a nearby amp.

"So what's up with Rikku, man? Are you going to be cool on this tour with her?" Tidus asked, picking himself up and strolling over to where Gippal was working.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Gippal asked, his words hollow while he focused on the bolts at hand.

"I don't know. Didn't you two have a messy break up?" Tidus asked.

"Which time?" Gippal said sarcastically.

"Uh, the most recent time?" Tidus looked confused.

"Yeah, it was messy," Gippal replied without looking up.

"What happened?" Tidus asked, looking around at things and scratching the back of his head. There sure was a lot of stuff. He was still concerned about how Gippal knew how all of it worked.

"I cheated on her," Gippal said flatly. "A lot."

"You did? Dude, that's bogus," Tidus gave Gippal a look.

"Yes, I know," Gippal said, moving to the control board again.

"Rikku's hot, Dude," Tidus said, following behind him.

"I know she is," Gippal sighed.

"So like, you were with her, and you two were real serious, and you still cheated?" Tidus asked, trying to wrap his head around the idea.

"YES." Gippal said firmly.

"Whoa, chill, man. I just thought you two were in love," Tidus shrugged.

"What is it with everyone and love these days?" Gippal snapped.

"Yikes! Gippal, man, chill out!" Tidus held his hands up.

"Yeah, I fucking cheated on her, alright? All the time," Gippal sighed, calming down and going back to his work. "But she was no saint either."

"Get out, sweet little Rikku?" Tidus leaned against the table the control boards were on and crossed his arms over his chest.

"You don't know her like I do, pal," Gippal said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.

"Good thing or Yuna would KILL me," Tidus laughed. Gippal joined him.

"She's not as sweet as everyone thinks she is," Gippal reached for his water.

"No way," Tidus cocked his head a bit to one side. "She's a doll!"

"In public," Gippal shrugged. Tidus caught on.

"Oooooh I see what you're getting at." He grinned. "Nice."

"It sure was," Gippal heaved another sigh. This humidity was terrible. He was happy they only had to stay a day. "And I'm not the only one who knows about it."

"So she cheated on you, too?" Tidus asked.

"No," Gippal replied, flipping switches and setting dials.

"So?"

"We've been on again off again for four or five years now. And when we're off again?" he paused. "She's out of control."

"But she was faithful?" Tidus asked.

"To my knowledge," Gippal said, turning the board off once everything was set.

"So your girlfriend was statistically the hottest woman around, she's a freak in the sheets, she loved you, and you cheated on her?" Tidus asked, getting his facts straight.

"Yeah. That about sums it up, thanks, man." Gippal said sarcastically.

"Just getting to know my boss a little better?" Tidus joked right back.

"Well, keep it up and you're fired. I'm sweating my balls off, we're done here, let's head down to the beach," Gippal pointed over his shoulder.

"Hey! You little thief!" Rikku giggled. "Come back here with those!" Gippal watched from a distance as Vidina pulled Rikku's sunglasses off and started running as fast as his little legs would carry him. She'd been lying on her towel asleep for all he knew. She hadn't moved since he'd arrived on the beach with Tidus. Gippal was sitting in the sand with Yuna and Tidus a ways down the beach from where Rikku had staked out the perfect tanning spot alone.

"So everything is ready for tonight?" Yuna asked, getting Gippal's attention. He was blatantly staring at Rikku's long perfect legs as she stood up and brushed off some sand and headed after Vidina.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah. It's fine," Gippal looked back at Yuna.

"I'm really glad you could help us. I would've been heartbroken if we had to cancel the tour," Yuna smiled at him.

"Anything to help," Gippal forced out a fake smile.

"I'm gonna get you!" Rikku yelled playfully, letting Vidina get ahead of her. He was giggling even more than she was.

"What does he have?" Yuna asked, squinting to see Rikku engulf Vidina in a hug.

"Her sunglasses," Gippal said, a little too quickly.

"Like she doesn't have enough pairs!" Yuna huffed. "That girl has more clothing and accessories than most of Spira combined."

"Oh, come on, Honey. She just likes to look good!" Tidus patted Yuna's thigh. Her mouth dropped open. Gippal coughed. This guy was an amateur. He walked right into that one.

"Are you saying I don't look good? I don't go out and spend all my gil on glasses and skirts and make up and jewelry and itty-bitty tops, so I don't look good?" Yuna sat up straighter.

"What? No! Wait, what?" Tidus shook his head trying to figure out what just happened.

"You like how she looks, then, is that it?" Yuna snapped.

"Rikku's a sharp dresser!" Tidus's voice was getting higher and higher. Gippal hid his entertained grin.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Yuna huffed. Tidus looked at Gippal in a panic. Gippal held his hands up and looked away.

"She chases the trends," Tidus tried.

"Hm." Yuna didn't seem satisfied.

"Unlike you. You're classy and timeless," Tidus grinned, giving her a quick kiss. She smiled.

"Nice save," Gippal said under his breath as he stood up.

"What?" Yuna looked up at him.

"Nothing, I'm gonna take a dip," Gippal nodded towards the water and walked down towards the ocean.

"Gotcha!" Rikku laughed, scooping Vidina up and snatching back her glasses. She pulled him into a big hug and strolled over to where Lulu and Paine were sitting. "Somebody's turning out to be quite the little thief!" Rikku laughed, setting Vidina down in the sand next to a pile of sand toys.

"Oh?" Lulu gave him the eye and a motherly tone. He blushed and shrank up, covering his face.

"Snatched my sunglasses right off my face!" Rikku laughed.

"Aren't those last year's anyway?" Paine said dryly. "Is stealing the crime? Or is the crime at stake out of date fashion?" she raised an eyebrow at Rikku.

"Psh, last years, shmast years, these are hot," Rikku slipped her shades back over her eyes.

"I hate to ask this of you two since I know you have a big night tonight, but I have to get some things done back at the house to prepare for the party later. Would you both mind keeping an eye on Vidina for a bit?" Lulu sighed, looking back and forth between Rikku and Paine.

"Not at all!" Rikku picked the little boy up and spun around with him, getting that little giggle of his out that she just couldn't get enough of.

"Oh great. Now I can baby sit TWO giggly little kids," Paine rolled her eyes.

"Hey!" Rikku turned and stuck her tongue out at Paine.

"Set. Match. Win," Paine smirked, turning back to the book on her lap.

"Oh, you big meanie, that wasn't even fair!" Rikku had one hand on her hip, the other holding up Vidina who was now sticking out his tongue, mimicking her.

"Uh oh. Learning lessons from your Auntie Rikku, are you?!" Lulu wagged a finger at Vidina.

"I think he might have learned that one from his father, isn't that right, my little buddy!" Rikku snuggled him in again, their faces close as they both laughed.

"But you girls don't mind?" Lulu asked as she packed up her things.

"Lulu, please. You're doing ME a favor! I never get enough time with him! Every time I get back he's grown up so much, I want to hang out as much as possible!" Rikku replied.

"Thank you, Sweetpea. If he gives you any trouble just come to the house and get me," Lulu said, picking up her beach bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"I will," Rikku replied.

"Paine?" Lulu looked over her shoulder.

"Yes?"

"If SHE gives you any trouble, come to the house and get me," Lulu smirked. Paine laughed.

"HEY!" Rikku snapped.


	10. The Afterparty

The setting sun brought about the gathering of all of Besaid's people to the stage set up outside of the temple. Young and old alike were overcome with excitement for the show. Gippal and Tidus were down in front switching on all of the equipment. Buddy was keeping an eye on the pair of techs. Brother was keeping an eye on females in the crowd and the Gullwings were preparing to take the stage together for the first night of their tour.

"Oh! I'm so excited!" Rikku gushed, banging her drumsticks against her thighs in excitement.

"Our first show on the road of a Spira wide tour," Yuna grinned. She shot a smile at Rikku. No matter how much they bickered like sisters, just before a show? Yuna and Rikku put everything behind them in order to enjoy every second of their time on stage. It was too hard not to. Playing together was too much fun!

"This is so awesome!" Rikku was bouncing with excitement.

"Rikku, Paine," Yuna said, looking back and forth between her friends. They both looked up alarmed. "I'm really happy to be out here doing this with the both of you."

"Aw, Yunie, that's sweet," Rikku spoke up before Paine had a chance to say anything snide.

"Let's just make this the best concert we can for all the people here. What do you say?" Yuna smiled wide.

"I say we perform out little butts off!" Rikku threw a fist in the air. Yuna laughed.

"One minute to go, Gullwings!" Buddy called over to them. He ducked back onto the stage and they could hear him introducing them and thanking Besaid for having them in town.

"Well," Yuna trailed off, giving Rikku a side smile. "For old time's sake?" Yuna grinned. Rikku nodded. "Give me a Y!" Yuna thrust her hand out.

"Give me and R!" Rikku slapped hers on top of Yuna's.

"Give me a break," Paine rolled her eyes.

"PAINE!" Rikku and Yuna snapped in unison.

"What? You said for old time's sake?" Paine smirked. She slapped her hand on top. "Give me a P," she sighed, smiling.

"Let's go, Gullwings! You're on!" Buddy hissed, hurrying the girls onstage. A thunderous applause erupted at just the sight of the Gullwings. They all exchanged smiles and set up, then started to play.

"Hey," Gippal nudged Tidus in the bicep with his elbow. They were standing side by side in front of the control board, Gippal monitoring a lot of flashing lights while Tidus grinned up at Yuna, singing and dancing and playing her heart out. She glanced down at him and winked, then back out at the crowd.

"Yeah?" Tidus asked, shaking his head.

"They're pretty good," Gippal shrugged.

"You've never heard them?" Tidus stared at Gippal.

"Once or twice. Not in at least half a year," Gippal replied, watching Paine rip through a bass solo while Yuna encouraged the crowd to clap along. Gippal was shocked to see her so full of life up there. The past year and certainly the past two days had lead him to believe that Yuna was getting tired. He had always been pretty convinced she was a prude and a bad time. She reserved all of her looks of distaste for his and Rikku's relationship. But there she was, the crowd in love with her, singing and dancing and having a great time.

"Jeeze, Man. You need help, dude," Tidus laughed, clapping Gippal on the shoulder.

"Your girl's real good," Gippal yelled over the noise.

"What's that?" Tidus asked, his eyes glued to the stage.

"Yuna. She's good!" Gippal yelled back.

"Oh, yeah, man. She's something else up there!" Tidus grinned, a look of complete and utter adoration in his eyes. Yuna kept catching his glance, sending winks and hip moves and finger points that were all for him. Gippal tried to mask his jealousy with apathy as he watched Paine strum and Rikku drum. Rikku was a lot better at this than he remembered. Either she'd been practicing or those dresspheres had upgrades.

Either way, it was totally hot.

"You going to the after party?" Tidus asked Gippal.

"Sure," Gippal replied with a shrug.

"You been to a Gullwings after party lately?" Tidus smirked, turning to look at Gippal a bit.

"Not since we broke up," Gippal sighed, watching Rikku jump up, crashing her sticks on cymbals as the girls drew another song to a close.

The beaches of Besaid were dotted with fires and covered with people all celebrating and partying. There was plenty of food and drink for everyone, musicians were out playing around the fires from seasoned adults strumming away to young boys and girls just learning, shaking tambourines. There wasn't a villager who missed it. Everyone was happy.

"Nice show tonight, Dr. P," Rikku nudged Paine's arm with her elbow. The pair of Gullwings were enjoying a drink by one of the less crowded fires. They had just finished cleaning themselves up form the concert.

"Besaid is always a great show. They love Yuna here. They'll cheer for anything she does," Paine smiled, sipping her beer.

"Guys! Paine! Rikku! Ladies! Guys! Hey!" Tidus sputtered, coming up behind the girls and throwing his arms around their shoulders.

"Speaking of things Yuna does," Paine rolled her eyes. Rikku snorted and giggled.

"What are you two doing all the way over here?" Tidus slurred. He wreaked of booze and was falling all over himself.

"We're just getting started! We just got here!" Rikku laughed, hoisting Tidus up onto her shoulder more.

"Well! Then the party can begin!" He smiled.

"Is this why Yuna never lets him drink?" Paine glanced at Rikku.

"Oh yeah," Rikku nodded.

"Rikku! I was over there with the Aurochs! You know, they all think you're pretty cuuuuute!" Tidus joked, tickling Rikku's side. She swatted him away.

"Shut up, Tidus!" She laughed, glancing over her shoulder towards the Aurochs. Gippal was standing with Wakka. No need to be over there. She didn't want to even have to LOOK at him. Kind of. At least he had a shirt on. A really nice shirt. But so what! She glanced to another one of the fires where she could see Lulu and Yuna laughing. That might be a safe bet. Although, Buddy was standing not too far of. She tried not to blush thinking about how badly she treated him. He liked her, and she knew it, and she knew they were getting too old for her to do the things she did with no strings attached.

"And where are my manners!" Tidus giggled. "There are some foxy lady groupies over there, too, Paine."

"WHAT?!" Paine cried, tossing Tidus's arm off of her.

"I thought that you-"

"NO!" Paine cried. Rikku covered her mouth with her hand, trying to decide if she should laugh or be appalled.

"Oh," Tidus's eyes shot open.

"Where did you hear that?!" Paine snapped.

"I, well, I just," Tidus looked to Rikku for help as he stuttered.

"WHERE?!" Paine grabbed Tidus by the front of his shirt and jerked him closer to her.

"Gippal! Gippal told me!" Tidus yelped.

"Oh, he is dead. He is fucking DEAD!" Paine shoved Tidus away and stormed off towards the Aurochs.

"He really said that to me! I'm not being a jerk! I was just being nice! Some of those groupies are really hot! And were suggesting frisky things!" Tidus said defensively. Rikku laughed.

"Oh, Tidus. It's okay." Rikku assured him. "Did Gippal really say that? Or was he joking?"

"He did say it. I don't know if he was joking!" Tidus shrugged.

"Calm down, I think Paine can take care of it herself," Rikku patted his arm affectionately. "Now," she grinned. "Which of those Aurochs said I was cute?"

"Gippal!" Paine marched up to one of the fires where Gippal was chatting with Wakka. She grabbed him from behind by the shoulder and whipped him around to face her.

"Whoa!" He cried out, spilling his drink.

"What the hell is your problem?" Paine asked sternly.

"Well, Gee, Dr. P. That's kind of vague," Gippal laughed.

"Cut the crap, Gippal! Why did you tell Tidus I was into women?" Paine crossed her arms over her chest. Gippal just laughed. "It's not funny!"

"It's kind of funny," Gippal chuckled, reaching to a nearby table for another drink. Paine knocked it out of his hands.

"No it's not!" She snapped.

"Sheesh, Paine, lighten up! I was just joking with the guy! I didn't know he was going to believe me?" Gippal backed a step away from her.

"Give me a break!" Paine threw her hands in the air. "You and your stupid jokes have gone TOO far!"

"Paine, it's just Tidus, it's no big deal," Gippal shrugged and sipped his beer.

"You told him I was a lesbian, Gippal!" Paine hissed, getting flustered. "He told me there were 'foxy lady groupies' at this party!"

"Oh, that is a RIOT!" Gippal laughed. "Look, Babe. It was a passing joke, don't stress about it. His darling Yuna will straighten him out in no time, don't worry about it," Gippal smiled.

"You're a dipshit," Paine sad flatly, punching him in the shoulder.

"Ow!" Gippal laughed.

"So what's you're problem? What are you doing hiding over here with the Aurochs?" Paine nodded over Gippal's shoulder where the team was getting too drunk too fast.

"Just having a drink with the guys," Gippal shrugged.

"The Aurochs are not your guys," Paine gave him a look.

"What are you talking about? Wakka's my boy," Gippal shrugged her off. "And there's Botta and Lotta and Gotta and Something-else-otta," Gippal trailed off, pointing at the guys.

"You're full of crap," Paine snapped.

"You know it," Gippal smiled into his drink.

"Wakka!" Rikku laughed as she dragged Tidus over to the fire the Aurochs were hanging out around.

"Hey Rik!" Wakka cried and opened his arms for her to hug him. He had a can of beer in one hand and was being even louder than usual.

"Does Yunie know about this?" Rikku pointed to Tidus who was slung around her shoulders. He was now high fiving Wakka over Rikku's head.

"Probably?" Wakka grinned. "Here. Letty, take this," Wakka pulled Tidus off of Rikku and passed him off to his drunk teammates where he joined in the chants about victory. "Now come here, you! I barely got to see you yesterday!" Wakka scooped Rikku up into a big bear hug, her feet leaving the ground.

"Hey! Put me down!" She giggled.

"It's good to have you around, Rikku. We miss you around here, yah?" Wakka set her down and messed up her braids. She gave him a look and straightened them out.

"It's nice to be around. I miss you guys too," she replied, softening into a smile.

"Hey Rikku," Keepa shyly waved to her. He and half the team were inching towards her.

"Hi boys," she smiled back.

"Um, good concert tonight," Letty grinned, blushing something awful. Rikku recalled a night with him that she'd like to forget. Unfortunately, it was something he'd always remember.

"Thank you! I'm glad you guys could all make it out tonight and this slave driver didn't have you putting in extra practice!" Rikku backhanded Wakka playfully in the chest.

"Hey! During a Gullwings concert? I would never!" He put his hands on his hips.

"I'm just joking, Big Fellah," Rikku grinned up at him.

"Say, uh, Rikku? Would you sign my blitzball?" Keepa held ball and a pen out. Rikku laughed.

"Of course!" she took the pen and signed her name.

"Oh look at her. Just LOOK at her!" Gippal huffed, casting a hand towards Rikku where she was flirting up a storm.

"So what? She does this all the time," Paine shrugged.

"Thanks, Paine, that makes me feel great, really, thank you," Gippal glared at her.

"Well, Why don't you go over there and ask her to sign YOUR blitzball?" Paine tried not to laugh.

"I wish you had some blitzballs cause I'd kick you square in them right now," Gippal grumbled. Paine laughed.

"You know what, Pal? She's done. She's had enough of you. You blew your shot and she's moved on," Paine said. The two of them watched Rikku sign Letty's butt. "WAY on," Paine cocked her head to one side.

"Anybody ever ask you to do that?" Gippal glanced at her.

"Nah. I signed a pair of boobs once. DON'T SAY ANYTHING!" Paine cut him off before he could make a joke.

"Were they big?" Gippal raised an eyebrow.

"You're filthy."

"I know."

"They were alright. Now are you going to stand here and talk about breasts with me or are you going to go over there and make nice with her?" Paine asked.

"I'm not making nice with her. I'm leaving her alone, and being polite, just like we agreed at the bar," Gippal looked away, scratching the back of his neck. They both sighed in a lull.

"Paine!" Lulu called out, coming up behind the pair. "There you are! I've been looking all over!" Lulu grinned. She had an ever present glass of wine in one hand.

"Here I am," Paine smiled.

"I wanted to compliment you ladies on a job well done. I had a wonderful time this evening!" Lulu rested a hand on Gippal's shoulder to steady herself. She had probably had quite a few of those glasses of wine by now. He glanced at her hand, startled.

"Thank you very much, Lulu," Paine smiled genuinely. She'd always liked Lulu. Lulu was just as honest as you needed her to be. She always made you feel good.

"You're very welcome. Why are you two hiding all alone? I know you have plenty of good friends here?" Lulu asked, glancing back and forth between the two of them. Paine laughed and Gippal scowled.

"Paine!" Rikku cried out. She was sitting on Letty's shoulders, signing the top of his head. "Paine come here! They want your autograph!" She giggled. Gippal watched Letty's hands on Rikku's exposed thighs and cringed.

"Well, duty calls. A Gullwing's job is never done," Paine shrugged and smiled sarcastically as she strode away from the pair.

"Oh those Gullwings. Always so busy," Lulu smiled after Paine.

"They certainly are," Gippal sighed, putting back a healthy amount of his beer.

"How's it going, working for them?" Lulu asked, turning to face Gippal a bit.

"It's alright," he shrugged.

"And now how about the truth?" Lulu joked.

"I'll need a little more to drink if you want me to tell you the truth," Gippal laughed. Lulu just smiled.

"Yuna!" Rikku called out a few drinks later. Paine and Rikku had signed just about every inch of the Besaid Aurochs and were now three sheets to the wind. Yuna had signed an autograph for every child in the village and was still working on her first social glass of wine.

"Hey girls!" Yuna smiled as she headed over to her friends.

"Yuna!" Wakka cried out scooping her up and throwing her over his shoulder.

"WAKKA!" Yuna hollered. "Put me down right now!"

"Oh come on! You used to love this!" Wakka was laughing uncontrollably. Even Paine was in stitches watching Yuna fuss and huff.

"I was five?!" Yuna cried. "Put me down!" She demanded.

"Alright, alright!" Wakka set her feet back on the ground. "Where you been, yah? We've been having a great time!" he cast his hand at his team that was covered in marker. Rikku was dotting the I in her name on Keepa's behind with a heart. Yuna frowned.

"I was just talking with some of the village kids," Yuna replied as she snatched the marker away from Rikku and yanked up Keepa's pants. She sounded tired.

"That's real sweet of you!" Wakka said sincerely.

"Baby!" Tidus came running over and planted a big wet one on Yuna's mouth. "Are you having a good time?" He stumbled over himself.

"Tidus!" she gasped. "How much have you had to drink?"

"Um," he looked at his hands and pretended to count on his fingers. "Too much!" he laughed.

"Oh goodness," Yuna put a hand over her eyes. She pointed at Wakka. "I have to imagine YOU had something to do with this!"

"Who, me?" Wakka pointed to himself. "Get out!"

"Oh Yunie, relax! He's having a good time!" Rikku chuckled.

"You know, I could use some water. Can we get some water?" Tidus asked Yuna, drunkenly over excited.

"Yes, I think that's a fine idea," She guided him away. Letty waited until they were out of ear shot, then made the sound of a whip and moved his hands in a whipping motion. The Aurochs burst into laughter.

"She needs it bad, yah?" Wakka laughed pointing after Yuna. Paine and Rikku exchanged a silent laugh.

"I'm gonna get another drink," Rikku moved to go.

"What do you need?"

"What were you drinking?"

"Let me get it for you!" Three of the Aurochs cried out at once.

"Yikes, Gentlemen! I can get it myself!" she giggled as she walked away.

"Do al Al Bhed girls have legs like that?" Letty asked. Every man in the group watched her walk away. Paine rolled her eyes.

"Most of them do," she sighed.

"Really?" Keepa lit up. Paine waved a hand at him.

"Hey there, Rikku," Buddy was standing by one of the tables of food and drinks. He was holding a beer and grinning. He was also speaking directly to Rikku without blushing so he had to be on his way to drunk.

"Hi," she smiled back.

"Great show out there tonight," he grinned, handing her a drink.

"Thanks," she said, taking it form him and taking a long sip. He was just drunk enough to not be ashamed of some of the things they'd done in the past.

"You know, those drum solos are really coming along," He slid an unwelcome hand over her hip. She glanced down in shock as he moved to rest it at her lower back.

"Thanks?" she said, uneasy.

"Real great stuff you're doing on the set, there, Cutie," he touched her hair and shot her a smile.

"I've been practicing," she squirmed a little and reached around him for some food she didn't want, but it got her out of his grip. She only liked this sort of affection from him on her terms. And when she was wasted. Or when she was being a bad person and using him. This was out of hand, this all had to stop.

"It shows, Baby. It shows," he looked her up and down and took a step closer.

"Excuse me?" Rikku gasped a little.

"Hey," Paine tapped Rikku on the arm.

"Oh! Paine! Hey! There you are!" Rikku grabbed onto Paine's arm.

"Uh…hi?" Paine shook her arm a bit to get Rikku off.

"What's up?" Rikku asked, trying to play it cool.

"Wakka was looking for you," Paine nodded over her shoulder.

"Okay. Thanks. Talk to you in a bit, Buddy!" Rikku smile politely.

"Yeah. We'll talk to you later, BOSS," Paine shot him a look. Buddy just looked drunk and disappointed as the two girls walked away.

"Feeling better?" Yuna asked Tidus after he drained a second glass of water.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he waved, drunkenly at her. He took her hand and they headed away from the crowds and towards the water.

"You know I just worry," Yuna sighed, resting her head on his shoulder.

"You gotta stop that, Sweetheart! I told you! With you always!" Tidus kissed the top her head and smiled. She nuzzled into his shoulder a bit and pulled him a little closer as the sounds of the party behind them got further and further away. It was darker down by the water but the moon and sky full of stars cast enough light for the couple to see perfectly fine.

"I just don't see why you had to have so much to drink!" she said quietly, looking out over the water.

"Aw, come on! I was just letting loose with the guys? It's not like I do this all the time!" He looked down at her.

"I know," she sighed.

"No harm in it! Everyone's happy! Everyone is celebrating! They're celebrating you! And Spira and friends and food and all kinds of stuff!" He laughed.

"I know," she repeated.

"I'm just having a good time? Are you having a good time?" He looked at her more sincerely.

"Yes, I'm having a perfectly lovely time," she snapped.

"Yuna," he warned.

"What?" She huffed, stopping and facing him.

"The weight of Spira is no longer on your shoulders!" He emphasized his point by reaching out and giving her shoulders a gentle rub. "We're all safe now thanks to you! There's only one thing left to do!" He grinned.

"What's that?" she said, hints of a smile at the corners of her lips.

"Party, of course!" Tidus laughed. "Celebrate! Enjoy! What do you say?" He pushed her dark hair behind her ear and she rested her cheek into his palm.

"I'll try," she smiled.

"There's my girl!" He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"And another thing!" Gippal cried. He and Lulu were sitting in the sand, two empty bottles of wine beside them and they were working on a third. "The BS about my contract!"

"I have heard no BS about your contract?" Lulu said, concerned. The pair had been chatting casually and the more they drank, the heavier the topic.

"That's cause it's all a big dumb secret!" Gippal spat out. "I wouldn't sign that piece of crap!"

"What was wrong with it?" Lulu asked.

"Everything!" Gippal threw a hand in the air. "It was air tight, first of all. Second it said absolutely no involvement, romantic or otherwise, with any member of the band."

"Get out!" Lulu cried, topping off their glasses.

"Yeah! And like, Paine and I are together all the time, that constitutes involvement, doesn't it?" Gippal gestured at Paine a few yards away.

"I suppose some may say so," Lulu shrugged.

"And I mean, we're all adults here, Lu," Gippal leaned in. "Rikku and I weren't just playing jacks when we were dating." He said quietly.

"I gathered as much," Lulu laughed.

"And we're not even speaking now, so I don't have to worry about playing jacks with HER anymore, but you never know what a night at the bar will do to two people who used to play jacks and skip double touch and hop scotch and hide and seek and all that other jazzy shit!" Gippal was getting worked up.

"No, that is very true. You never can tell where the booze thresh hold is on simon says," Lulu winked.

"See? You know what I'm saying?"

"Honey, I have a son," Lulu reminded him.

"The mage gets it? Why does no one else?!" Gippal threw his hands up and looked around sarcastically. "And I'm not allowed to make lesbo jokes about Paine anymore, she got mad," Gippal grumbled.

"I can't say I've heard those jokes, but I can see where she's coming from," Lulu chuckled.

"And Yuna hates me," Gippal was counting on his fingers.

"Yuna does not hate you," Lulu assured him, a hand on his forearm.

"Yes she does. Ever since I cheated on Rikku she's been nasty."

"With all due respect, Gippal. You cheated on her cousin. It may as well have been her sister," Lulu said.

"Rikku was no saint either! She blew me off all the time and wasn't allowed to be with me because of who her father is and all this other crap, 'I have to save the world, Gippy, I gotta run'!" Gippal imitated Rikku's voice to a T and Lulu fought laughter.

"I heard through the grapevine that you left her for the crimson squad," Lulu eyed him over the top of her glass.

"Yeah, ONCE. After that it was always 'Gullwings this' and 'My Daddy that' and 'Yuna and Paine this' and 'rock concert that'. A guy can only take so much of that shit, Lu." Gippal said. He was so frustrated he was turning red. Or maybe that was just the wine.

"I understand," Lulu said sympathetically.

"And you know, if I knew she was going to hate me with everything she had, I would've signed the damn contract because her father bought me out!" Gippal beat a fist into the sand.

"Cid did WHAT?" Lulu gasped.

"Cid all but annexed the machine faction for New Home. He needed more supplies and more man power to keep the project going. He guilted me into it and said if I didn't sell he'd have me killed and take it himself. I got robbed blind in the deal and a hearty Al Bhed 'Dontcha ever touch muh baby girl again, dirt bag!' It was pretty unpleasant," Gippal looked sincerely at Lulu.

"That's terrible," Lulu gave his shoulder a little squeeze. "I had no idea."

"It was well hidden," Gippal slurred, taking a large gulp of wine. "So I'm broke. I'm doing pro bono grease monkey work, my whole staff hates me except for Paine, no more dyke jokes, and I'm living in a closet."

"Gippal, you poor thing!" Lulu patted him on the back.

"Yeah, well. I'm bringing it on myself," He shrugged.

"And why is that? You could just leave, couldn't you?" Lulu suggested. "No contract?"

"Well," Gippal trailed off.

"Ah ha!" Lulu pointed at him and smiled.

"What!" Gippal yelped.

"Nothing, go on. Well what?" she gestured with her hand for him to continue.

"Well, Rikku-"

"HAH!" Lulu interrupted him again.

"Hey!" Gippal snapped.

"Listen, friend," Lulu slurred, pausing to take another sip of her wine. She brushed her bangs out of her face and tried to keep her eyes open. "You are not very good at hiding your feelings."

"What?!" Gippal sat up a little straighter.

"About the girl! About Rikku!" Lulu flicked her hand at him and a small burst of flames shot Gippal in the chest.

"Lulu!" He cried.

"Whoops?" She blushed and sat on her hand to keep from any more accidental spells.

"You just shot fire at me!" Gippal laughed.

"I know, I hate it when that happens, I'm terribly sorry," Lulu grimaced at him.

"I think I'll be alright," Gippal laughed and reached for his drink.

"As I was saying before I so rudely interrupted myself," Lulu paused for another sip. "What's your plan, Gippal?"

"My plan?" Gippal looked back at her.

"You're obviously not on this tour for the fun of it," Lulu glanced around. "Although now that I mention it, this is probably going to be a blast."

"She doesn't want me, Lu." Gippal said after a long lull.

"Are you certain?" she smiled at him.

"Well," Gippal paused, his fuzzy thoughts recalling those three little words. Stay with me. "No, I'm not certain."

"Well, that's a step in the right direction?" Lulu shrugged.

"Lu, can I ask you a female related question?" Gippal asked.

"Gippal, if this has anything to do with where babies come from or where the right stuff is inside, there is not enough wine in Spira to make me have that conversation with you," Lulu said frankly.

"What?! No! Oh, goodness, no. Not ever, no. don't worry!" Gippal cried out. Gross.

"Well, then I suppose you may ask away," Lulu said, patiently awaiting his question.

"So, let's say, hypothetically speaking, you were kind of on again off again with this hot blond guy," Gippal grinned. Lulu rolled her eyes and laughed at him.

"Okay. For how long?" Lulu asked.

"Like, you know, just speaking situationally, like, four years," Gippal shrugged.

"Very well."

"So let's say you're off again for good, and you are marching around Spira in a mini skirt conquering everything in your path with your drum set," Gippal continued.

"Hypothetically?"

"Hypothetically."

"Okay."

"So, let's say the studly blond in question brings you back to your bed because you are too drunk to do so yourself," Gippal continued.

"You know I don't drink Gippal," Lulu gave him a playful shove.

"Hypothetically!" He tried not to laugh. "Now, this is the serious girl part," Gippal leaned in, his face and his voice serious. "If he tried to leave after he tucked you in, and you grabbed his hand and said 'stay with me', what exactly would that mean?" Gippal asked.

"Stay with me?" Lulu sat back a bit.

"Yeah. And for the record of your hypothetical experience, in Spiran and Al Bhed, if that like, makes a difference. And you situationally speak al bhed too of course and so does your studly blond suitor." Gippal said quickly.

"Well in that case," Lulu swished the wine around in her glass and thought it over, then looked up at Gippal. "I'd hope he brought jacks."

"WHAT?" Gippal cried in disbelief.

"But I would most certainly say so in Al Bhed," Lulu joked.

"Really."

"I'm too far gone to lie at this point," Lulu tipped her glass to him.

"Interesting," Gippal thought aloud.

"I'm speaking, of course, hypothetically," Lulu reminded him. "But realistically," Lulu nodded across the way to where Rikku was dancing with a couple guys form the team. "Don't push. Be yourself. Take her cues. And if she asks you to stay with her?"

"Yeah?" Gippal asked.

"Stay with her!" Lulu flicked him in the forehead and a small spat of ice appeared. "Well. Looks like I've reached my limit," she said, setting her glass down beside her. "Does that answer your question?"

"Yes, it does, thank you, Lulu," Gippal wiped the ice off his forehead as he smiled at the mage.


	11. Next stop Kilika

"Oh for fuck's sake, Gip, make the ground stop moving!" Tidus moaned. He was sitting on what was left of the stage with his head between his knees. He and Gippal were trying to get the equipment broken down and packed up before the heat got to them. It was fairly early the following morning and Gippal was doing a far better job of hiding his hangover.

"Wish I could, buddy," Gippal shook his head with a slight smile on his lips. Tidus fell onto his back and pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes.

"Who DRINKS like this?! How do you people party on a nightly basis?!" Tidus whined.

"Us people as in Al Bhed?" Gippal smirked a bit at Tidus's unintentional Yevonite slurring.

"You and Rikku can party like it's your job! That girl goes out on a nightly basis and gets all sorts of drunk!" Tidus's voice was scratching it's way up his throat. His legs were limp, his feet dangling over the edge of the stage. Gippal tightened his jaw at the thought of Rikku partying every night without him. With plenty of other eligible young bachelors. He wasn't going to get mad. Not right now and not over this.

"Well, for one, we're built for the desert and don't get dehydrated as easily as the rest of you," Gippal began, reaching into his pack that was resting against a speaker on the ground. "Also? Like everything else in our society," He pulled out a potion for Tidus. "Our medicine is more advanced than yours."

"Hey, man. I'm not from here," Tidus sat up a bit to take Gippal's offer.

"And it shows," Gippal half smiled as Tidus downed the meds. He shook his head vigorously and seemed to be coming back to the norm.

"Hey fellas. Buddy wants to get out of here, we've got a bit of a ride to Kilika and he's getting pissy and antsy," Paine strolled up to the pair. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was being her usual standoffish self.

"Hey!" Gippal looked up at her with a smile.

"What." she said flatly.

"If it isn't my very favorite, beautiful, wise, not even KIND OF GAY friend Paine!" He slung his arm around her shoulder. She stared back at him for a few moments, then swatted his arm off and gave him a shove.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She grumbled.

"Nothing. Look, I'm sorry about last night, and, well," Gippal scratched the back of his neck and looked for words, stretching and appearing obviously uncomfortable with an apology. "Sorry that I MAY HAVE implied in a few humorous situations that you're a lesbian," he finally got out in a huff.

"You're not forgiven," she replied, monotone.

"Be that as it may, Mr. Yuna is hung over as all hell and I'm shit outta luck here. Can you help me with all this?" Gippal asked her quietly.

"I can HEAR YOU!" Tidus called over to them.

"Shut up," Paine and Gippal snapped in unison.

"I'll help you out. You owe me one. But I'll do it," Paine sighed, trying very hard not to smile.

"Do you have everything, Sweetpea?" Lulu asked Rikku over her shoulder as she dropped the last of the dirty breakfast dishes in the sink to be washed.

"Oh yeah. We're all packed up!" Rikku had her bag in one hand and was roughing up Vidina's hair with her other. He was wrapped around her leg, thumb in mouth, giving her sad eyes about leaving.

"Looks like someone wants to come with you," Lulu smiled as she turned around.

"Aw, I know it's going to be totally fun, little guy, but we're going to be up way past your bedtime pretty much every night," Rikku bent down to pick the child up. He hugged his arms around her narrow shoulders and rested her head against her chest. "Think he likes me?" Rikku joked.

"I'd certainly say so!" Lulu crossed to the pair, running an affectionate hand down Vidina's back.

"Thanks for everything, Lulu. Really. It was so wonderful to get to see you all again," Rikku smiled sincerely. It made Lulu melt into her warmest smile yet.

"Of course, Rikku. You know that you are always welcome here," Lulu reminded her softly but sternly.

"Of course, I know that!" Rikku laughed.

"Good. I know someone that's going to be real disappointed if you don't come by more often and play!" Lulu spoke in a childish voice to Vidina who giggled and hugged Rikku tighter.

"I'll try, but I'm going to be busy for a few weeks," Rikku laughed again. "You and Wakka are coming to the final show at New Home at the end of the month, right?" Rikku looked hopefully up at Lulu.

"We wouldn't miss it for anything, my child!" Lulu grinned. "Now go on and get ready, you've got quite the journey ahead of you," Lulu nodded her head towards the door.

"Lulu," Rikku rolled her eyes. "I've been on way worse journeys than THIS. I think I can handle a month on the Celsius with Paine and Yuna."

"That I'm certain of," Lulu chuckled. "But the journey I'm talking about is not the physical one."

"What?" Rikku wrinkled her nose and cocked her head. What was Lulu going on about now?

"I think you know, Sweetling," Lulu patted Rikku's head. "Do me a favor and listen to what your heart says and not your head," Lulu paused. "Or your cousin." she added as an afterthought.

"What?! Lulu!" Rikku snapped, blushing instantly.

"Your heart, Rikku," Lulu pointed a finger at her. "Any love that was once true can never be completely lost. Keep your head on straight, your heart open and your legs crossed," Lulu said firmly. Rikku's jaw fell in shock. "Well, for as long as humanly possible of course," Lulu broke into a sly grin.

"LULU!" Rikku was till gasping.

"I'm smarter than I look, Honey. You'd do well to heed my advice," the older woman smirked. "Now. Give me back my beautiful baby and get that narrow behind back to the Celsius. They can't leave without you!" Lulu reached out for Vidina and he climbed into her arms.

"Thank you, Lulu. So much," Rikku gave Lulu an earnest hug, slightly complicated by the son in her arms. "I just wish you could come with us!" Rikku whined.

"Oh come now, I'm not nearly as much fun as I used to be. You kids stay up far to late for me," Lulu brushed off Rikku's shoulders and fixed her hair in a motherly way, all the while with a broad smile on her dark lips. "You know you can always call if you need something, anything. Even if it's just to talk," Lulu reminded the younger girl.

"Yes, I know. And thank you," Rikku replied honestly.

"Beautiful." Lulu kissed Rikku's cheek. "Now get a move on!" she ushered Rikku out the door and she and Vidina waved goodbye, watching until their friend was out of sight down the road.

"So, ah, you think you could put the moves on Rikku so that Buddy will stop being and idiot?" Paine asked, out of breath and she and Gippal dropped the last case in the engine room.

"What?!" Gippal yelped.

"Shut up. Don't tell me that you and the mage were too drunk to notice." Paine gave him a look.

"Again," Gippal looked back at her. "WHAT?!"

"This whole innocent act of pride and ignorance is very cute and all, but seriously, Gippal. How long do you intend to leave her alone?" Paine snapped.

"Forever! She wants me to," he looked away. Paine stared at him for a few moments, trying to decide if he was serious.

"OH , COME ON!" she cried, throwing her hands up once she decided he was.

"I need you to stop bothering me about this!" Gippal hissed. "I'm doing what I can! The rest is pretty much up to her," he snapped. Paine's eyes widened just slightly.

"What do you mean?" she asked slowly, eyeing him.

"I am trying to figure her and myself out. I don't know. Lulu and her deadly wine got me thinking," Gippal grumbled.

"And?" Paine pressed.

"And it's really none of your damn business," Gippal looked her up and down.

"Yes it IS!" Paine snapped, punching him in the arm.

"OW! HEY!" Gippal shot her a dirty look.

"I live with her! In very, very, close proximity, need I remind you, and contrary to popular belief I don't completely loathe everything. She falls under that very small umbrella of things I can tolerate and sometimes even want to tolerate. You've been part of my life forever now and whether I like it or not I have to live with you, too!" Paine snapped at him in a quiet but fierce voice. "So if I am going to carry on living the way I like to, which means doing what I want when I want with few to no distractions along with plenty of 'me-time' I am going to need you two to be happy so you don't bother ME about it. Understand?!" She whacked him in the chest.

"Wow, Dr. P," Gippal smiled at her. "The truth comes out. You DO have a soul!"

"Shut up!" she snapped. "Do yourself a favor and get your ass in gear," she pointed at him as she stalked out of the engine room.

"Wow!" Rikku cried out involuntarily as they strolled down the docks of Kilika Port away from the airship. "Look at this place! I haven't been here in months!"

"It's really shaping up around here, huh?" Paine glanced side to side. The old structures of Kilika had been rebuilt after Sin's attack a few years ago, but now that Spira was united, a lot of Al Bhed filtered into Kilika. A lot of simple but effective machina was combined with the standing structures. There were a lot of pipes hidden against the docks that lead to indoor plumbing. The huts were connected with power cables now and there were basic light fixtures indoors and out. The Al Bhed were ecstatic to experiment with the raw power of the ocean. They never got the opportunity in the desert. Many of the larger buildings had slowly turning waterwheels outside them churning out power for large portions of the city.

"Gippal, this is really some nice work you've done," Yuna turned to him with an honest smile. It made him uncomfortable. He was trying to politely blend into the back of the pack.

"Thank you," he muttered.

"What is that all about?" Rikku whispered to Paine.

"You're welcome. It really is great to see the Machine Faction's advancements all over Spira," Yuna smiled a perfect political smile at him.

"This is his work?" Rikku whispered quickly at Paine again. She was eyeballing all of the constructions and designs. They were annoyingly flawless. Her green eyes darted all over the place as they walked, checking every pipe joint, hinge angle and mounting work. The handiwork was all perfect.

"Yeah, The Kilika Advancement was actually one of his biggest projects a while back," Paine replied nonchalantly. "It was all being finalized when you two were breaking up."

"He never mentioned it," Rikku trailed off, disappointed. Her eyes were still glued on the craftsmanship on the systems of pumps and waterwheels.

"It was kind of a secret," Paine shrugged it off as if this were all common knowledge.

"So how do YOU know about it?" Rikku hissed, trying to keep her voice down. Jealousy always made her louder.

"He asked me to be a part of it," Paine looked straight ahead to avoid smirking at Rikku's shocked expression.

"What!" Rikku snapped.

"It seemed his first choice wasn't speaking to him at the time," Paine couldn't fight the grin now.

"Wait a minute," Rikku whispered.

"Yes?"

"He wanted me to help with his biggest-"

"Yes."

"But he didn't because I was-"

"Yes."

"So he asked you to be-"

"Yes."

"And you said no?" Rikku hissed, this time looking up at Paine.

"I already have a job," Paine shrugged after a few beats of silence. "Two, if you count telling Baralai how not to fuck up the unified council a few times a month."

"Gullwings!" A strong low voice cried out as they approached the bustling center of town. "How wonderful it is to have you all here!"

"Thank you, Dona. It's a pleasure to see you as always!" Yuna smiled as she and Dona exchanged pleasantries.

"We've prepared a banquet in your honor! Please, we'd love to have you all join us for dinner." Dona gestured to a large hut behind her that had a few people coming and going.

"Thank you! We'd love to," Yuna replied, taking Tidus by the hand and heading in first. Dona paused to greet each of them as they entered. Gippal fell in behind Rikku. She watched over her shoulder as Dona kissed his cheek and spoke softly. The way she touched his arm and the way he looked uncomfortable made Rikku's stomach sink. She knew that look all too well.

They had totally slept together.

And it was good.


	12. Crimson Duties

"How nice it is to see you again, Mr. Machina," Dona purred lowly in Gippal's ear as she hugged him hello.

"Nice to see you too," he winced and flinched away from her, his voice monotone.

"There's a system of pipes in my suite that needs a fine pumping and realigning if you know what I-"

"Dona. Please." Gippal swallowed hard and pushed her away.

"Excuse me?" she looked up at him, clearly displeased.

"Don't." he looked away from the giant rack that she wasn't even trying to be modest about.

"Are you shitting me?" she said, her voice husky and just above a whisper.

"No. Just, please. Don't. I'm off this job now, I'm on someone else's." Gippal clenched his eye shut.

"All the more reason! Now there's no conflict of interest!" She hissed.

"There never was any interest!" Gippal snapped back.

"How dare you!" she gasped. They both looked guilty when they noticed Rikku awkwardly slipping away.

"See what you've done?" He cast a hand in the direction his former love had escaped.

"Oh for sobbing out loud, are you back with the princess? WHEN are you going to give THAT fantasy up?" Dona rolled her eyes.

"I don't work for you anymore so I'm not required to be nice when you say shit like that to me," Gippal growled.

"Oh baby, please don't be! You know how I like it when you-"

"STOP IT!" Gippal snapped again. Dona just stared back, her jaw hanging slack. "God, you're infuriating!" He flailed his hands a bit in frustration.

"You liked it," She looked him up and down.

"It was one time! Do you KNOW how much rum was involved in that contract signing?!" Gippal yelped.

"You are on some very thin ice, Monkeywrench," Dona stood up a little straighter. "Maybe I just need to let Bartello know that there was a passionate night between you and I that was completely against my will and that you-"

"DON'T you EVEN. DARE." Gippal stared her down. "If anyone took any advantage of anyone it was YOU," he glared at her. She stared back, then finally let out a smirk.

"And I'd do it again in a heartbeat," she winked before turning on her heel, slapping on her fakest smile and greeting the room full of people. Gippal stood behind her, hot, bothered and really pissed off.

Rikku managed to sit as far from Dona as possible at dinner and found herself next to Paine. Paine ate quietly and half listened to Rikku assume as many sexual situations between Gippal and Dona as she could imagine. Some of them were a little too imaginative for the dinner table. The blond barely ate but managed to stab the living daylights out of the meat on her plate. Paine slipped in as many glasses of wine as possible and was wishing SHE had sat next to Gippal for two reasons. He was being silent and scowling and avoiding Dona like the plague, as well as Rikku wouldn't go anywhere near him.

The Gullwings set up a small concert for Kilika's leaders and VIPs. Rikku managed a fake smile while she drummed and Gippal stood stock still while Dona danced beside him. Tidus thought the entire thing was hilarious and lacked the social graces not to point and laugh. The majority of the small crowd didn't seem to notice and was thrilled to have the ex-summoner among them whether she was singing or not. Yuna could hardly get a moment alone.

After the short show was wrapped up much to the dismay of the audience, The entire crowd moved out towards the water to continue the party. Yuna assured them all that the Gullwings would bring much more to the stage in a few nights when the entire town was present. Now she was sitting quietly with some of the older residents, sipping a social glass of wine and debating old yevonite ways. Paine and Rikku had managed to ditch their fans and were hiding by some trees and tipping back a few beers out of the view of so many important people.

They had a great view, however, of Gippal getting pestered by Dona.

"Look at her," Rikku scoffed. "WHAT a SLUT."

"Yes, I heard you the first forty-seven times," Paine sighed. Rikku looked up at her with a displeased scowl.

"Well she IS," Rikku huffed and took another swig of her beer.

"And he is not even kind of interested," Paine pointed out. Rikku cocked her head a bit and looked him over. He was stiff, he was standing off, he kept doing that defensive thing with his shoulders, his eye was wide and he was shaking his head a lot. He was talking with his hands, something he did when he was heated, or drunk, or both. She knew those hand gestures well. He used a lot of them during their ridiculously public break up in New Home.

"Yeah right. It's probably all a show so he can go bone her out in secret," Rikku looked away, disgusted she had even uttered that phrase.

"Give me a break!" Paine laughed. "Look at him! He's miserable!" He was. His drink was empty and he was doing everything he could to get away from the woman.

"Serves him right," Rikku snapped.

"Would you give it up already?" Paine smirked a little. "I know you're just dying to talk to him."

"I am not!" Rikku whipped around, her eyes wide.

"Well, one of us has got to go over there and save him," Paine said matter of factly, turning her attention back to the woman of the hour and their struggling friend.

"Why?" Rikku spat out.

"Due to an oath I pledged years ago, I'm not supposed to leave him in a situation where his life is in danger," Paine said, trying not to laugh. "And if one of us doesn't get him out of there soon, I think he's going to take his own."

"So go get him," Rikku shrugged and looked away. Paine grabbed Rikku by her shoulder. "Hey!"

"I like it better when you do it. It's funnier for me," Paine laughed, then gave Rikku a good hard shove towards the arguing pair. It wasn't hard enough that she crashed into them or their conversation, but she was now so obviously close to them that she had no choice but to head right on over. After shooting the dirtiest look she could muster over her shoulder at Paine, she took a deep breath, stuck out her chest, and strutted in her most hip-flattering-strut towards Gippal and Dona The Man Stealer.

"Rikku!" Gippal yelped in surprise.

"Hi," Rikku blushed a bit but tried to hide it. She was glad it was fairly dark. "Dona, could I borrow him for a minute?" Rikku looped her arm through Gippal's elbow. He flinched a little when she touched him. "Brother and I need some help on the Celsius, the engine is awry again, and you know us Al Bhed! Can't let too many hours go by without fixing something!" Rikku stuttered awkwardly, giggling with nerves.

"Yes, I've heard you're very good at breaking things, too," Dona narrowed her eyes at Gippal. "Please, by all means, take your lowly equipment tech back to his grease pit," Dona huffed and dramatically turned away. The pair watched her go, still arm in arm. Once she was out of ear shot, they both let out the breaths they were holding.

"Thank you," Gippal looked down at her pleadingly. She wished he wouldn't.

"Don't thank me, thank Paine," Rikku said, her voice small and shy. "She made me. Some crimson oath or something." Rikku rolled her eyes.

"Well I'll make sure to catch up with her later then," Gippal smiled a little. She was still holding his arm. She felt good there and she felt familiar. Her hands felt just right. "I don't actually have to go fix the engine right now, do I?" He asked, a look of panic flashing across his face. She burst out laughing.

"No!" she laughed. He smiled involuntarily at her laugh. It always made him smile. He couldn't be this drunk already. He felt dizzy but he'd only put back a few drinks. He had to get away from her but he couldn't let her go.

"Thank god," Gippal laughed too.

"Besides, I wouldn't let you near that thing," she giggled, snatching his empty beer bottle out of his hands and shaking it at him.

"Please, I've fixed bigger birds than the Celsius when I was way more than half in the wrapper," He said, raising a cocky eyebrow at her and tossing out a devilish smirk.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, flirting right back.

"Of course," he inched closer to her.

"Like this water system? All the pipes and filters?" She gestured towards a series of nearby water wheels with her hand.

"What?" He wrinkled his nose. "This was one of my biggest projects. I stayed perfectly clean for all this."

"ALL of it?" She raised the same cocky eyebrow back at him, coming close to making a cute little question mark out of it.

"Yes?" He looked back at her quizzically.

"So you were sober when you flushed Dona's filthy system?" Rikku pointed over her shoulder with her thumb. "Really, Gip. I can't stand you, but I know you better than that. She's terrible." Gippal opened his mouth to retort, but nothing came. She knew about that? And was okay with it enough to be making jokes? She had to be drunk. They all were, but really. She thought this was funny? It WAS kind of funny. Funny if it wasn't him. Funny if she wasn't her. Funny if she wasn't so devastatingly perfect. He really wished she'd stop smiling.

"Yeah, she is pretty terrible," Gippal hung his head a bit and chuckled as he got the words out. Rikku stifled a small giggle. "But I've had worse."

"Oh have you?" Rikku let out a laugh and looked up at him. They met eyes and quickly looked away. She took a deliberate step away from him and put her hands on her hips, clearing her throat loudly. He scratched the back of his neck and suddenly found the stars completely fascinating. "Well!" she exclaimed. "You know what? I have a very full day of lying on the beach tomorrow, so I think I'm going to hit the sack."

"I'm definitely going to need a few more drinks to wash down this weirdness," Gippal's eye was wide. She snapped her head back at him. "With Dona!" He fumbled quickly. "You know, this bullshit. Being back here," He looked around, willing himself to stop talking.

"Sure," she smirked, her usual sass returning as she took a few backwards steps away. "Goodnight." she smiled.

"You too, Rik," He waved half heartedly as she walked away. He watched her go, loving and hating Shinra for that miniskirt.


	13. other crimson duties

"Hey, hey! Guess what!" Tidus cried out, dropping a large crate of cables down next to the console Gippal was setting up.

"What?" Gippal asked flatly.

"No hangover!" Tidus was holding his hand out for a high five. Gippal just stared at it for a minute. "What, you sneaky desert geniuses don't high five?" Tidus shrugged.

"No, we do," Gippal replied, slapping a weak hand against Tidus's.

"Anyway, I popped one of Rikku's potions before I went to bed," Tidus smiled, proud of himself.

"And your wifey hardly let you drink," Gippal added without looking up. Tidus scowled.

"Well, yeah," He huffed, kicking at the dirt. The two men were shirtless in the sun, half setting up for the evening's concert and half working on their tans. Gippal wanted to stay the hell away from Dona and no one was allowed in the area where he and his faithful assistant were setting up. He was hoping to drag the process out as long as humanly possible.

"What's with that anyway? Yuna's a real stick in the mud, huh?" Gippal asked over his shoulder as he opened another case of sound boards.

"She is not, she's just, well," Tidus scratched his head looking for the right words. "I don't know, man. She's conservative. She always was, she was brought up different, you know?"

"I guess," Gippal shrugged.

"I thought it was a summoner thing, but I guess it's just a Yuna thing. I mean, take a look at Dona. She's an ex-summoner, and she, well she's something ELSE, man. That chick would probably do just about anything you wa-"

"She would," Gippal cut Tidus off. It took a moment, but Tidus broke into a knowing smile.

"Nu UH!" Tidus shoved Gippal in the shoulder.

"Once and only once and I'm NOT proud of it," Gippal sighed. Might as well get it all in the open now before someone else told him. Or she hit on him.

"Dude, seriously. How many women have you gotten with?" Tidus asked as he unloaded the large coils of cables.

"You don't want to know," Gippal replied.

"Uh, I asked, didn't I?" Tidus gave Gippal a look. Gippal stared back for a minute, then turned and headed back towards the Celsius without saying anything. "Come on!" Tidus whined, jogging a few steps to keep up.

"I'm not telling you," Gippal snapped.

"Dude. You were a soldier. Soldiers get babes. You're a mechanic. Mechanics get babes. You're like, the boss of this whole big giant corporate thing, and like, those kinds of guys get babes?" Tidus kept on as they each picked up the ends of a large crate and started hauling it back towards the set up.

"Yeah, with some fast math, you can see that it's lots of babes," Gippal said frankly.

"Hey, Bro. I was a professional athlete before my ride here with Sin. I KNOW about babes," Tidus said quietly, looking side to side to make sure they were alone. "I know about LOTS of babes," He raised a brow.

"And your charming over protective girlfriend, she's okay with this?" Gippal asked as they set the crate down.

"She doesn't exactly KNOW, but like, I wasn't even technically REAL back then? So I figured it doesn't count if you're in another dimension or whatever, right?" Tidus offered up a shrug.

"Oh, yeah, totally. That doesn't count at all," Gippal agreed completely, then shook his head at the thought of it. The lunkhead was making sense.

"So come on. How many?" Tidus punched Gippal in the arm and anxiously awaited the number.

"Too many," Gippal said, his voice tired just at the thought of it. "I lost count." Gippal shrugged and reached for his bottle of water from his pack.

"Wow," Tidus's eyes widened.

"I was with Rikku for a long time, though. A few times," Gippal said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, but whatever, you cheated on her," Tidus snorted.

"Only the most recent time," Gippal shrugged. "Never when we were kids," Gippal busied himself with his work.

"Get out, how old were you, sixteen?" Tidus asked. "That's prime mistake making time!" Tidus threw his hands up.

"Man, could you like, not?" Gippal asked, turning over his shoulder.

"You know, Bro, I'd love to just drop it, but like, I can't cause you're both so OBVIOUS!" Tidus laughed.

"Excuse me?" Gippal stiffened and slowly turned around.

"I saw you two last night!" Tidus taunted, sending a serious of soft jabs into Gippal's shoulder. "Getting all cozy and laughing over by the trees?" Tidus raised a brow.

"You saw that?" Gippal looked around quickly. No one was around. They were all down by the water.

"Eh? EH? I'm right, I knew it. So, you guys, you know, get a little..." Tidus trailed off and made a few suggestive gestures.

"Fuck off, dude, you don't know what you're talking about," Gippal swatted at him, then turned back to his work.

"Oh come on! I think it's great!" Tidus whined.

"So..." Yuna trailed off.

"So what?" Rikku asked. She was lying on a lounge chair on the docks between Yuna and Paine. They were all taking their afternoon off to enjoy the warm Kilika weather. Yuna was reading. Paine and Rikku were soaking up sun and casually napping. They didn't want to admit to Yuna that they were napping off last night's hangover.

"So Tidus told me this morning that he saw you and Gippal being cozy last night," Yuna teased.

"He's lying," Rikku said flatly without moving. She was stretched out in the perfect tanning position. She was wearing sunglasses and trying to ignore Yuna. Paine was doing the same on her other side.

"He doesn't lie!" Yuna gasped.

"Not that you're aware of?" Rikku sassed back.

"Well! I was just going to say I was happy for you!" Yuna settled back into her chair, turning the page in her book.

"She was saving him from Dona's clutches. It was all an act," Paine piped in. As much as she enjoyed giving Rikku a hard time, she much more enjoyed peace and quiet.

"Thank you, Dr. P. You can tell your little boyfriend that I was helping him out because Paine made me. End of story," Rikku said tartly.

"Oh please," Yuna scoffed. "Rikku, it's NEVER the end of the story."

"What?" Rikku propped herself up on her elbows in order to more deliberately give Yuna a dirty look.

"I know you think I'm naive, and maybe that's true," Yuna sighed, tucking a bookmark into the pages and setting the book down on the dock. "But I'm not stupid. None of us are."

"What are you talking about?" Rikku yelped.

"I know he hurt you, we all do," Yuna carried on.

"Which is why you all know he's a butthead!" Rikku jumped on Yuna's words.

"He's a butthead who's trying, though," Paine added in. Both Yuna and Rikku stared at her with surprised faces. Paine never seemed to care about this sort of thing.

"Well he's going to have to try a little harder than this! He cheated!" Rikku snapped.

"So did you," Yuna reminded her.

"Only after I knew he did! And he cheated A LOT!" Rikku pointed hard at Yuna. "I cheated out of spite when I knew it was really over. And all that fun I've been having since we broke up was well deserved! He hurt me!" Rikku crossed her arms over her chest and looked out over the water.

"And fooling around with half the male population of the planet has proved to be an EXCELLENT form of healing," Paine rolled her eyes.

"Excuse you!" Rikku shouted.

"Calm down, Rikku," Yuna tried not to laugh.

"Why did he come here? Why did he come with us? Shouldn't he be off running his stupid business or whatever?" Rikku fell back down onto her elbows and picked at the threads on the towel she was lying on. Her voice was small.

"We needed him," Paine shrugged.

"Couldn't they have found some tech junkie from New Home who had nothing better to do and would probably cost a hell of a lot less and wouldn't have those stupid shoulders and swagger and HELLO! Fifteen YEARS of stupid history with ONE OF THE FREAKING GULLWINGS?" Rikku cried, throwing her hands up. "Whose idea WAS this?!"

"Good afternoon, Gullwings!" Buddy came strolling up the dock carrying a clipboard. He was dressed a little more casually. He was smiling wider than usual.

"Hi Buddy," Yuna said pleasantly, offering up a small wave. Rikku was still seething. Paine was trying to pretend she was asleep. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of Buddy these days. She knew Gippal was working for free and that Buddy was treating him like crap. She also knew Buddy was shamelessly hitting on Rikku a lot more than usual.

"Just wanted to check in on my girls and make sure everything was going well," Buddy smiled, glancing at his paperwork. "Where the hell is he?" He asked himself.

"Who?" Yuna yawned, settling back into her chair. The high afternoon sun was getting to her.

"Oh, no one. I asked Gippal to meet me down here and he's late," Buddy sighed.

"I thought he was setting up with Tidus?" Paine decided to be awake.

"He is, he is, oh! Good!" Buddy looked up as Gippal came running down the dock. He was covered in sweat and out of breath. Rikku looked away. If he was going to walk around in just work boots and shorts, she was going to need to go blind in a big hurry. Her tiny bikini wasn't helping his work ethic much either.

"Sorry I'm late. I had to put a patch on some of the audio cables, something ripped in the case last-"

"Fascinating," Buddy cut him off. "Girls? Do you need anything? Lunch? Water? New towels?" Buddy grinned at them.

"I'm thirsty if you're offering," Paine shrugged. Rikku and Yuna glanced at one another and nodded.

"Good. Gippal?" Buddy turned to the exhausted mechanic. "See to it that the Gullwings all get a glass of ice water."

"What?" Gippal squinted at Buddy. "I'm your sound technician, not a slave!" He stood up straighter and put his hands on his hips. He was bigger than Buddy.

"You're on the staff, and right now, I need someone on the staff to get my girls hydrated," Buddy said firmly.

"Really, we don't need it," Paine looked up at Gippal.

"No. By all means," Gippal sneered at Buddy. "Let me get you ladies a glass of water," He got out through gritted teeth.

"I'll take one as well while you're at it," Buddy grinned. Gippal's lip twitched as he stalked off towards town.

"Buddy," Paine took of her sunglasses and looked Buddy in the eye. "That was a bit much."

"Nonsense," Buddy chuckled. "It's his JOB."


	14. of buttheads and meanies

The evening was a dull one. The concert wasn't until the following night, giving the girls and the crew some down time. After sunning themselves until dusk, the Gullwings packed up and headed back to the Celsius, their home away from home. Yuna and Tidus wandered into town to have dinner together. Brother was off muttering something in Al Bhed about Kilikan women and Gippal was caught giving him directions to Dona's house. Buddy was having dinner with some of the city officials and talking logistics of tomorrow's concert. Paine was lying in bed reading when Rikku came back from her shower.

She was suspiciously quiet.

There had been no talk of nightlife yet, and Paine was perfectly content staying in her bed. Rikku was probably going to want to go out and party her sorrows away, as usual, but Paine didn't know if she was up for tagging along and making sure Rikku didn't sleep with anyone important out of spite. She watched Rikku towel off her hair, sitting at the foot of her bed, sighing a lot. She was in her pajamas, a pair of green short-shorts with ruffles on them Paine had heard so much about in the trenches in the old days, and that same worn out white t shirt she had debuted at the inappropriate breakfast. Her boots lay in a tired heap, on standing upright, one toppled over, next to her trunk. All of the beads that were normally strung up in her locks were sitting in a bowl on top of her trunk.

She looked a little sad.

"What?" Paine finally asked. The only thing worse than an over chatty Rikku was a huffy silent one.

"Hm?" Rikku looked up, combing her fingers through her wet hair.

"What's wrong?" Paine asked, placing the book facedown on her sheets to mark her page.

"Nothing," Rikku shrugged.

"You haven't said a word in hours. I have to guess that something is wrong," Paine almost smiled, but not quite.

"Yeah," Rikku chuckled. She looked like she was thinking, staring down at the carpet. "You think Buddy was kinda harsh today?" she asked, looking up at Paine.

"No, I think he was very harsh today," Paine grumbled, turning onto her side and propping herself up on her elbow so she could look at Rikku.

"Yeah," Rikku glanced away again. "He's been weird lately."

"He always was kind of an odd one," Paine chewed on her thumbnail thoughtfully.

"And like, not to wave my own flag too proudly or anything, but I know he likes me. And I know I may have been a little, well, ENCOURAGING of that in the past, but like, it was never anything more than drunk teenaged fun," Rikku gestured with her hand, then let it fall, defeated, against her thigh.

"He's a bit older than you. He should have known better," Paine grumbled.

"Maybe," Rikku shrugged, looking away again.

"He's treating Gippal like shit. I know Gippal's an ass and probably deserves it sometimes, but not from Buddy," Paine rolled her eyes. "All in all, I'd say he's been almost a gentleman since he joined us." Paine flicked her eyes up to gauge Rikku's reaction.

"I've been kind of a meanie to him," she got out in a small, guilty voice.

"Not that big of a meanie," Paine lied.

"No, he has been pretty nice to me. I don't know," Rikku was twisting the ends of her hair unconsciously. "I just don't want to get wrapped up in that big bag of hurt again, Paine!" She whined, pulling her legs up and sitting cross-legged on the bed.

"I know," Paine replied, almost compassionately.

"He just makes it so easy! We're so bad for one another! Every time we get together, it's so good, and then when it falls apart it gets worse every time! He's so sweet and foxy one minute and the next, it's like, like he's ripping my heart out with a wrench and running it through an exhaust system and churning me into the gears and like, it's really, REALLY hard to put yourself back together once you've been through that!" Rikku yelped. Paine tried not to laugh.

"Sounds pretty awful," Paine agreed.

"I don't know if I can take that anymore, you know?" Rikku looked up at her again. Paine could see in Rikku's eyes that she as torn. "And when he's nice like this? It makes it worse. It's just," Rikku trailed off, gesturing in the air and trying to find words. She looked and sounded like she wanted to cry. Paine glanced to the stairs, alarmed. She didn't want to be here if she cried. "I miss him." Rikku finally spat out.

"So go talk to him. He's right downstairs?" Paine shrugged.

"Not like that, it's not that simple," Rikku let out a deep breath. It was shaky and she wiped one of her eyes. "I miss who he was. I miss who I was, who we were. We're different now. Too much as happened and I don't know if we can have it back."

"Probably not," Paine nodded thoughtfully.

"He was my best friend, Paine," Rikku finally got out, her voice strangled by the tears she didn't want to cry.

"Okay," Paine sighed, getting up slowly.

"What?" Rikku had a worried look on her face.

"Come on," Paine nodded towards the stairs and Rikku followed her. The warrior demanded two beers from Barkeep and handed them both to Rikku.

"I don't know if I really feel like having a drink," Rikku looked down at the bottles in her hands.

"I don't care. I know one very tired and cranky Al Bhed slave that would probably be thrilled if you brought him one," Paine was pushing Rikku towards the elevator.

"What? No! Right now?!" Rikku yelped.

"No time like the present. Be genuine, tell him how you feel. Or don't, and sit up here not crying to me, it's your life," Paine shrugged as the elevator door slid open.

"Paine!" Rikku snapped.

"Storage Number Three is where Buddy's keeping him. I at least want you two on speaking terms before you come back up here," Paine said sternly, then hit the button for the lower levels and stalked back to her bed.

Rikku silently cursed Paine for the entire elevator ride, then stopped and panicked when the door slid open on the low level. She hardly ever came down here. And what was she going to say? Would he even want to hear it? A few hours ago he was bringing her drinks on Buddy's orders. She slowly inched past Storage 1 and 2 and paused outside of 3. It was hot and uncomfortable down there. They didn't bother climate controlling the storage lockers. It was a waste of power.

She paced back and forth a few times before reaching up and gently tapping on the door with her knuckle. She held her breath. There was some crashing and Al Bhed cursing on the other side.

"Yeah?" Gippal snapped, opening the door just wide enough to look out. His eye flew wide open when he saw her standing there.

"Hi," she said lamely.

"Rikku, hey," he stuttered. "What are you doing here?" He stepped into the hallway, carefully closing the door behind him. Shirtless. As usual. Although she couldn't blame him. The heat down there was unbearable.

"Well," she began, dragging the word out. She wasn't exactly sure what she was doing down there. "Everyone is out, Paine is turning in, we're both making it an early night, and I know you had a long difficult day, so I thought you might want a beer before bed," she tried. He wanted to smile at her. He wanted to do a lot of things, but he was too surprised. She held a bottle out to him and took a sharp sip from the one in her other hand.

"Thank you," he took it slowly. "Did you tell Buddy about this? He'll probably make me run laps or something to make up for it."

"No, I did not. He doesn't know I'm here, he's in town with some big-wigs talking money and numbers," Rikku chuckled. They were both fidgeting, rocking on the balls of their feet and sipping nervously from their drinks, being careful not to make eye contact.

His hair was messy. He was sweaty and a little dirty. He was dressing a lot simpler these days. He let his hair do what it wanted, didn't spike each strand as perfectly straight anymore. He smiled more sincerely and she'd be lying if she said she didn't love it. He looked grown up. He looked like a man all of a sudden. It as comfortable and the worst thing ever all at the same time.

"Did you want to, um, come in?" he gestured towards his door. It wasn't a come on or a proposition, and she could tell. If anything, he just seemed lonely.

"Sure," she said. Her voice was a little empty, almost as if she were still trying to decide how she felt.

"Sorry about the mess," he said sheepishly, not turning around as he walked in.

Boxes were piled from floor to ceiling all around a crude bunk. The dingy work light hanging form the ceiling gave the room a dirty yellow glow. Rikku fought a gasp at the tight, cramped space he was calling home. The bed looked uninviting. He had a duffle bag on the floor that was open with a few things falling out. Parts of the engine appeared to be scattered amongst the clutter on the floor. He had clearly been repairing equipment. There were wire cutters and spliced cables all over the bed and the boxes.

"I was just getting some work done," he added.

"This is where you're staying?" she asked, her eyes wide in shock.

"Yeah. I know it's not exactly like my suite in Djose, or my estate in New Home, but she'll do," Gippal crossed his arms over his bare chest and tried to stand up a little straighter and seem a little prouder. It wasn't working. She wanted to be sick.

"Buddy put you in here?" she glanced around. The contents of his bag were strewn onto the floor. Folded shirts. A few pairs of work pants and shorts. His boots. A handful of books.

"It was all he could do on short notice. And I can't sleep in the kid's bed. I'm too long," Gippal mustered up a chuckle.

"This is wrong," Rikku said, her voice still somewhere else.

"It's not that bad. I've slept in cold wet trenches for weeks. Been dragged through deserts and snow and all sorts of fucked up training when I was with the Squad, I think I can sleep on a lumpy mattress in a closet," he grinned at her. It wasn't his cocky, lady-killing grin, it was a warm one. She didn't feel like smiling back.

"I'm sorry about today," she blurted out. They both looked surprised when she did.

"What do you mean?" he asked carefully after a few moments.

"Today. When Buddy made you wait on us. We had nothing to do with it and I'm sorry," she said quickly. She didn't know where it was coming from, but she couldn't stop it from coming out.

"I knew that," he replied, taking a sip.

"And I know that allegedly when we got drunk in Luca a few days ago I said something about not being mean to you anymore," she gripped her bottle with both hands, her thumbnail scratching at the label on it. He grinned.

"Yeah, you did say that."

"And I haven't really followed up on that, and it's not that I don't want to or anything, It's just that sometimes, with you and me, cause of all the crummy stuff we've done or said or wanted to say or thought really loudly or implied-"

"Rikku, relax," he interrupted her. He could tell she was having a hard time with this. Apologies were never either of their strong areas.

"And I'm not saying that I want to be nice to you, or anything, but I noticed you were being significantly less of a butthead, and I wanted to just tell you that I noticed," she finished, trying to retain an air of confidence, but failing miserably.

"So you came down here to tell me that I'm not being as big of a butthead as usual," he said slowly.

"Yes."

"And bring me a beer for it," he added.

"Uh huh."

"Thank you? I guess?" he didn't want to laugh, but the whole thing was so silly. "You're welcome," she nodded. She looked torn on the inside. He could see it in her eyes. They always gave her away. He knew them so well. "And," she said taking a deep breath. "I can't promise overnight results, but I am going to make an effort not to be such a meanie, like I claimed at the bar, but I can't make promises, because when you're a butthead, it makes me a meanie, and even though you're not a butthead right now, you're actually quite the opposite of a butthead these days, you still might turn around and BE a butthead just when I stop being a meanie, so it may take me a little while to be comfortable with the fact that you maybe aren't a butthead at all anymore," she said quickly.

"I would love nothing more than to not be a butthead," he joked back, trying to stifle his laughter but she was just so damn cute when she was flustered.

"Not helping!" she snapped, whacking him in the stomach. He flinched away and laughed.

"You hit like a girl," he smiled.

"See? Butthead," she rolled her eyes playfully.

"Takes one to know one, Cid's Girl," he taunted.

"DO NOT. CALL ME THAT." She pointed hard at him.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Old habits," he held his hands up to surrender.

"I'm gonna go," she pointed over her shoulder towards the door. The few beats of silence between them were getting awkward. Being nice to one another was new again. "I have a big day of doing nothing followed by being a rock star and drinking too much at night, if you want to get in on any of that with us," Rikku shrugged. "But for now I'm going to get some sleep," she glanced down at his less than desirable bed and felt guilty for a moment.

"Thanks for the drink," he held his bottle up.

"Don't mention it," she said lingering in the open doorway for a moment and looking back at him in the dim light. He looked broader and bigger in the small room. "Night," she tacked on.

"You too, Rik," he said for the second night in a row. He missed saying good night to her. But what he really missed was saying good morning.


	15. seafood habits

Rikku slept in as late as possible. She had spent the whole night tossing and turning trying to make sense of her own brain that it was early afternoon by the time she dragged herself out of bed. Paine had claimed pent up frustration and was out searching for any possible stray fiends to plunge her sword into. Now that the killing was scarce, she scraped to find ways to train. The day went by with few events, most of the crew doing final prep work for the show that night and staying out of one another's hair. By the time the sun started setting, they gathered in Dona's hall for a big group dinner before the show began.

"This all looks delightful, thank you so much for all of your hospitality, Dona," Yuna said sweetly as the whole group sat down to partake. A banquet of fresh seafood and fruits and vegetables from the forest was laid out with elegant garnishes. Dona and her people had outdone themselves.

"Anything for old friends," Dona said coldly, glancing down the long table at Gippal. He swallowed hard and looked down at his plate.

"Someone say something about old friends?" a large figure called from the doorway.

"Nooj!" Dona cried, jumping from her seat at the head of the table. "I had no idea you'd be in town! Aren't you ass deep in some big sphere dig?" Dona gleamed with excitement, her poise and fake smile melting from her face.

"Productivity is at a stand still thanks to the fact that I can't get any decent help. The two best for the job seem to find jetting around Spira playing pop songs more important," Nooj joked, gesturing at Gippal and Rikku who were sitting side by side and trying to ignore the fact that fate had put them there at another meal.

"If you can pay me more than this slob, maybe my mind can be changed!" Gippal joked, casting a hand towards Buddy. His mouth was still full as he set down his napkin and got up to shake hands with his old friend. Buddy didn't look amused.

"Nah, I couldn't take you away from all this glory, and I certainly can't feed you as well," Nooj smiled back, giving Gippal's hand a firm shake. "How's it going?"

"No major complaints," Gippal shrugged, lying through his teeth. Paine, who was sitting across from Rikku, stiffened in her chair.

"Nooj, it's wonderful to have you. You have to sit down and join us, I positively insist," Yuna smiled at him. She'd always admired his power and drive of setting up the youth league even if she didn't completely agree with his methods.

"Well, if Lady Yuna insists," Nooj chuckled, helping himself to a glass of wine and squeezing onto the bench beside Paine.

"Where's your woman?" Gippal asked, putting another forkful of fish into his mouth. Rikku snorted into her drink and tried to cover it up with a cough.

"She's at the chateau. Wardrobe crisis or some other such womanly thing. I haven't been back in a few days. After I saw you in Luca I was back on site," Nooj replied, filling his empty plate.

"What are you working on?" Rikku perked up.

"We've got some massive sphere readings a few miles off the coast of the Baaj ruins. We've got a few ships stationed and some excavation divers. Seems there are some very ancient machina under the surface. Some buried in the sand at the bottom, but we know it's there. Very hush-hush," Nooj replied, trying to contain an excited smile.

"Spheres too?" Rikku's eyes widened as well.

"Possibly. From what we've uncovered it looks like a small trader outpost. Can't be sure yet," Nooj replied, making it clear that he didn't want to say much more.

"That's great, Buddy. That could be really big for the Youth League," Gippal rested his forearm on the table.

"Here's hoping. It's been a while since we've had a big break," Nooj rolled his eyes.

"It's nice seeing so much of you. Wish Baralai could've been here. I like having the whole team back together now and again," Gippal grinned. Paine couldn't overlook how happy he looked. She hadn't had a chance to ask Rikku how the night before went. The thief looked slightly uncomfortable sitting beside him, but more out of nerves than out of hate. Gippal seemed relaxed for the first time in months. They weren't stiff or putting as much distance between themselves as humanly possible.

"Are you going to be able to meet us in Bevelle in a week?" Rikku asked, a piece of melon on the end of her fork. She had been avoiding the fish. She didn't have the stomach for it. Growing up so far from it her whole life soured her on the foreign delicacy. Gippal loved it. She had suffered through far too many seafood dates with him on which he ended up eating both of their plates.

"I'd like to. You're going to be in Guadosalam in the next few days, yeah? I'm going to try and make it home for that. Leblanc's been raving about having you there. She's been remodeling the place for weeks," Nooj rolled his eyes again, but this time it had a lot more sincerity behind it.

"Good lord," Paine muttered, her drink swallowing her words.

"So how many shades of pink is it now?" Rikku giggled before getting all of her words out. Gippal snorted with laughter, then turned and looked at her.

"Good one," he chuckled. She blushed. Paine's jaw fell.

What exactly happened in that storage locker?

"Thirty-seven, I believe. Although I am not up to count on how many shades of mauve there are in the drapes," Nooj joked right back. Rikku put a hand over her mouth as her giggle turned into a full fledged laugh. Yuna glanced down the table at the crowd and gave them a 'please stop being inappropriate' look.

"Aw, come on, Yuna. You'd laugh too. We're talking about your favorite person in the whole wide world!" Gippal's face was red he was trying not to laugh. Yuna tightened her jaw.

"Pity you didn't have her tag along, Nooj," Yuna got out through gritted teeth. It just made Paine and Rikku laugh harder.

"She still wear that outfit all the time?" Gippal asked.

"Yes." Nooj added a heaping pile of shellfish to his plate.

"That thing is a wreck," Gippal laughed.

"We have those, you know," Paine chimed in.

"You do not," Gippal's face paled.

"Yeah. We do. Mine's blue," Paine was trying not to laugh.

"They're foolish and ridiculous and as unpredictable as the attacks. Shinra should've equipped us with some double-sided tape before sending us into battle in those stupid things," Rikku huffed.

"Double-sided tape, I KNEW it!" Gippal banged a fist on the tabletop. "All these years she kept telling me it was magic!" Rikku and Paine burst out laughing at the sincerity in his voice.

Dinner went on light hearted and surprisingly pleasant. As a few more drinks were passed, the crimson squad and Rikku got a little rowdier and laughed a little harder. Paine was doing all she could not to excuse Nooj and herself. Not here and not now. It would be too obvious. She caught Gippal's eyebrow raise once or twice at a few exchanges between the two. No need to have to deal with that whole mess. She restricted herself to her platonic best behavior until they all split up to get ready for the show.

"Seriously! I wish I had some magical outfits that made me good at stuff!" Gippal laughed. He and Nooj had gotten the girls back onto the topics of their mystical costume changes. "Like, I put on a pair of pants and suddenly I had this friggin' huge-ass gun to blow people away? That's got to RULE!" Gippal threw his hands up, turning to face Rikku and Paine.

"It's not THAT simple," Rikku rolled her eyes, feeling the weight of the decent buzz she had going. "And besides. You have to wear a hot mini-skirt to get the huge gun. Otherwise that'd be too easy. It's cheating," Rikku pushed him playfully in the shoulder. Paine caught a twinge of red in his cheeks at her touch and tried not to throw up in her mouth.

"Whatever. You have knight stuff and samurai stuff. Don't tell me that YOU of all people are slinging a giant samurai blade in a hairline mini," Gippal pointed his fork at Paine.

"There is very little I do in any sort of mini," Paine said flatly.

"That was dangerously close to a nudie joke, Dr. P," Rikku cocked an eyebrow at Paine. She was unconsciously scraping all of the seafood off of her plate she wasn't going to eat onto Gippal's. She hadn't even realized she was doing it until he and Paine stared blankly at her. "What?" she glanced around at her friends.

"Nothing!" Paine blurted.

"I don't know?" Gippal babbled.

"Nudie joke!" Nooj held his glass up to toast to break the tension.

"I'm not going to eat it?" she shrugged, trying to play it cool. Not that it was habit or anything and not that it felt so good to have that familiarity back. Not even a little. "I think eating fish is creepy."

"Fair enough," Paine shrugged.

"And I know how much he likes it, not to mention he's worse than a modified Al Bhed trash compactor when it comes to food," Rikku carried on, trying to convince herself more than her friends that the gesture was no big deal.

"You always did think fish were creepy," Gippal chuckled, ignoring it all and spearing his fork into another bite.

"They smell creepy!" She protested.

"You smell creepy," he couldn't resist.

"And you smell like a butthead!" Rikku snapped.

Gippal didn't say much after that.

The concert went off without a hitch. Everyone in port was thrilled and cheering their hearts out. It was an overload of celebrities all on one night. Maven Nooj of the Youth League was a treat. He was chatting with some of the younger men about his current project between songs. They were interested in joining. Gippal had brought them out of the past and into the future with his genius designs. He tried to play his fame off when women swooned at him as he worked the boards. And of course, the Gullwings, Spira's golden girls, saviors of the world and all around amazing women. They were signing autographs and taking photos while Tidus and Gippal dismantled the stage. A few local men jumped into help, claiming that they could hardly repay Gippal for the advances he brought, so what was a little manual labor?

"Hey Gip, saw an awful lot of laughing going on at dinner," Tidus perked a brow at Gippal as they heaved another section of the stage onto the Celsius. There wasn't going to be much of an after party that night. Buddy needed them in the air as soon as possible for a PR event that following morning in Luca. He was shouting and cursing at Gippal to hurry his ass up, but he was doing it in Al Bhed so fewer people caught wind of what a jackass he was really being. With Paine and Rikku out of ear shot, he was safe.

"Are you, like, a sixteen year old school girl or what?" Gippal snapped at Tidus. He was annoyed with Buddy and his harsh words. He was trying to be the bigger man and not let it show. He was also annoyed at himself for acting like a childish boy and crossing the line into stinky jokes putting him back on butthead duty.

"Yikes, very ouch, sorry, Bro. Excuse a guy for trying to be happy for his friend," Tidus joked.

"Sorry," Gippal grumbled.

"So you're still in the dog house?" Tidus asked out the corner of his mouth. He had a knowing smile, and in some weird way, it comforted Gippal. Tidus had been showing genuine interest, and now that Gippal was headed in the right direction, he may want to capitalize on it. Tidus and Rikku were pretty close. If the idiot wasn't attached to Yuna so badly it would make him skeptical. She was practically the guy's sister-in-law. Maybe he could help.

"I'm on probation," Gippal muttered, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched the young youth league boys do all his work.

"That sounds like an awful lot of work," Tidus tried not to laugh.

"Apparently, I'm a butthead," Gippal turned slowly and looked at Tidus.

"Oh, yeah. You totally are a butthead," Tidus winced.

"That seems to be the public vote. And apparently, when I'm a butthead, it makes her a meanie," Gippal sighed, quoting her directly.

"She hasn't been that big of a meanie," Tidus shrugged.

"This is fucking stupid," Gippal growled, frustrated. "Forget I said anything!" He grunted as he tried to lift a piece of the set that was clearly a two man job.

"Hey, whoa! Hey!" Tidus grabbed the other half. "You're making this too hard on yourself!" Tidus cried, steadying the equipment.

"I can carry it, it's fine," Gippal spat out.

"Not the stage, you asshole," Tidus rolled his eyes. "The girl!"

"What?!" Gippal stopped short. He was mostly just surprised that the dumb one had the gall to call him an asshole.

"If she doesn't want you cause you're a butthead," Tidus said simply. "Then don't be a butthead."

"But I'm an asshole, man! It's hard!" Gippal cried.

"Fine. If you want to be a stubborn fuck, then fine. I can save my profound wisdom for someone else," Tidus threw his hands up as they tossed the set into storage.

"You call that profound?" Gippal snapped.

"Maybe? Maybe not?" Tidus shrugged. "But you're the one that's sleeping by yourself tonight. Not me."

"Get fucked, pretty boy," Gippal huffed.

"Oh, I intend to," Tidus jabbed Gippal in the ribs with his elbow.


	16. sex and plotting

"Holy shit, that's perfect," Paine exhaled in a whisper. Her bare back was grinding into the bark of a tree a few yards from the Celsius. Nooj was doing his job fast, hard and well. Paine had been particularly itchy through all of the photos and autographs. A lot of those Youth League punks liked her best because she was edgy and had spunk. She was able to duck out once they had warmed up enough courage to swoon over Rikku. Paine was sure they all liked her ideals well enough, but she knew it was Rikku's picture that was pinned up in most of the bunks back in Mushroom Rock.

"You moving out of your bunk any time soon so we can do this inside sometime?" Nooj asked between pants.

"What? No. Why?" Paine asked, her voice cracking as Nooj's tongue slid over that spot where her neck started to become her shoulder.

"Don't tell me you're going to sleep ten feet away while Gippal drills the princess," Nooj snorted out a small laugh. His hot breath felt good on her wet skin.

"He's not going to be doing that any time soon," Paine chuckled low in her throat. Nooj couldn't help but notice how sexy it was.

"You're kidding me, right? They were bickering like an old married couple at the table," Nooj chortled as he slyly unclipped the buckles on her pants.

"It's all new, she's trying to be nice to him," Paine said, her words fighting to get out as her back arched away from the tree trunk. The slow, deliberate movement of his thigh sliding between hers was agonizing and wonderful all at the same time.

"That should prove entertaining for everyone who isn't them," Nooj purred out a low laugh as he slid a rough gloved hand over her breast.

"No shit," Paine replied, scratching her nails across his back, her breath catching as he found her nipple.

--

"What a night!" Yuna laughed out a sigh as she and Rikku walked arm and arm back onto the Celsius. Their differences were easily set aside when they were on the high a show gave them. They both missed one another lately, but not in the sense that they didn't see each other enough. They missed the older days when they were younger and less complicated. When every ounce of their being was thrown into the same cause, the variations in their personalities weren't as noticeable.

"That was great! You were great! We were great! That was just so great!" Rikku giggled, giving Yuna's arm a squeeze. She liked Yuna around show time. She was more relaxed. She was happier.

"No, YOU were great," Yuna joked back, hugging Rikku around the shoulder with one arm.

"Thanks," Rikku smiled back. "I was working pretty darn hard."

"I bet it's tough to focus with so many…" Yuna trailed off as Gippal and Tidus passed them with a crate of cables. "Distractions," she finished.

"Yunie, not now. I feel too good to get gloomy with boy talk," Rikku rolled her eyes as the pair made their way to the cabin. Rikku waved to barkeep and ordered a round of usuals and sat down on one of the stools.

"Fair enough," Yuna shrugged with one shoulder and took a seat as well.

"But YOUR boy talk doesn't make you gloomy. Talk to me. Will I be getting a bridesmaid dressphere in the near future? Eh? Eh?" Rikku nudged Yuna's shin with the front of her boot. Yuna sighed and dropped her elbows onto the bar. "Uh oh." Rikku gulped.

"No, no. Everything is fine, I love him, we're happy," Yuna said, pausing to take a hefty swig of the cocktail in front of her.

"But?" Rikku urged.

"It's just, oh Rikku, this feels stupid to say and I shouldn't be upset about something like this, it's just," Yuna raked her fingers through her hair a few times. "He could be a little more... attentive. To me." Yuna was struggling.

"What? That's silly," Rikku waved a hand and swigged from her beer.

"No, it's really not."

"But he fawns all over you. That guy follows you around and does everything you say everywhere," Rikku looked perplexed.

"Not everywhere," Yuna said, not looking up at her cousin because she had turned a sufficient shade of crimson.

"What are you talking about? Dinner, shows, in cites, the bridge," Rikku ticked off on her fingers. "I mean, the only place I don't see you two is when you're in your roo-ohmygod," Rikku clamped a hand over her mouth as Yuna flicked embarrassed eyes up at her.

--

"I noticed you and Her Highness are closer than usual," Nooj said, tangling his big hand into Paine's short hair. She was slowly becoming putty in his grasp.

"What?" She squawked, trying to focus on the building heat between her legs and not who she was palling around with as of late.

"Does she know?" he asked, his voice harried as he left a few marks down her neck that were going to need a quick cura spell on before she ran into anyone else.

"Rikku? Know about what?" Paine asked, her brain trying to stay in the conversation but quickly losing focus due to the expansive attentive unit digging into her thigh.

"Me and you," he replied, slipping his fingers in as if to make a point.

"Ooohh-hoh-hoh THAT," Paine whimpered. "No," she regained a bit of herself as she moved against him. "She doesn't know about that."

"Probably for the best," Nooj nodded before finding that spot he knew she liked best and taping it repeatedly with the tips of his fingers.

"I'd say so. Now can we stop talking about my friends and shut up and get to work here? I gotta be in Luca in two hours," Paine panted, sweat forming along her forehead.

"I won't need that long," Nooj smirked, pulling down his zipper.

--

"Every night?!" Rikku gasped, outraged.

"Yes!" Yuna cried, putting her face in her hands.

"Oh good lord! No wonder you're such a bitch!" Rikku had a hand to her chest and didn't even try and stop the comment.

"I know! It's not my fault!" Yuna pleaded.

"Oh man! I feel so much better now!" Rikku took a deep breath. Yuna gave her a dirty look. "Well, for me, I mean. For me. I feel better that I am not what's making you five shades of crabby. All this time I really thought it was me!" Rikku's eyes were bugging out of her head and she hadn't blinked in a while. A stone sober Yuna was giving her the grim details of her not-so-sex life. "Yikes!"

"You can't tell anyone about this, Rikku," Yuna pleaded.

"How the heck do you expect anything to get done about it then?!" Rikku cried. "Do you want me to talk to him?" Rikku asked sincerely.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Yuna looked like she might throw up.

"Well then you're going to have to?" Rikku sipped her drink.

"How am I supposed to do something like that?' Yuna asked flatly.

"Take charge! Make your demands clear! Trust me. I may not know about yevon and such, but I know a lot about power and sex. I'm about to inherit an entire race of people, by the way, and I've boinked half of them," Rikku said matter of factly. Yuna looked even paler. "Well, maybe not half, but you get the idea."

"No. I don't." Yuna threw back the rest of her drink and waved her hand for another.

"Well, how about with some other guys, what did you do then?" Rikku asked, trying to lighten the mood. Yuna just looked up at her sheepishly. "Oh my god," Rikku stalled, her hand almost over her mouth. "Yunie. No other guys?" Rikku dropped her voice to a whisper.

"Well?" Yuna tried to shrug but didn't quite make it. "No."

"Holy smokes. Even when he was gone for two years and we were gullwinging it up in these foolish outfits?" Rikku pointed down at her thief wear that she typically wore in public. Yuna sank into her seat further. "Oh my GOD! One and only?!" Now Rikku thought she might barf.

"I've made up for it with how much time we've spent together!" Yuna snapped.

"Yeah, bogus time!" Rikku yelped.

"Rikku!" Yuna snapped.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's tough for a girl like me to put something like that into perspective. Save the world? Fine. Half our friends being dead the whole time? Whatever. But ONE GUY and ONE GUY ONLY? Good grief, what are you, Twenty? Twenty-one years old? MAN!" Rikku wiped her hand over her forehead.

"I shouldn't have said anything" Yuna whined.

"Probably not," Rikku finished her drink and stood up. "But I can't work with this. I'm going to bed," Rikku hugged Yuna good night and trotted up the stairs.

--

"He's specifically denying direct orders!" Buddy shouted, slamming his fists down on the console on the bridge. Brother was sitting in Shinra's chair, listening to his friend berate their sound tech for the past hour. Brother didn't really care either way what anyone was up to. He was getting paid to fly the ship, mind his own business, and pray on local girls while staying out of everyone's way. It was the best job he'd ever had.

"What orders?" Brother looked at his fingernails and tried to appear interested.

"No involvement with members of the band! It's in his contract!" Buddy shouted again, punching another fist into the hardware.

"I thought he was not signing that thing?" Brother looked up.

"UUURGH!" Buddy cried, shaking his fists. "He's awful!"

"Actually, considering his normal awfulness, he's not being so bad," Brother shrugged.

"It has to stop. What if he woos her back into his filthy hands and then destroys her again? The whole tour will be ruined!" Buddy yelled.

"Who is caring about the stinking tour? My sister will be wrecked!" Brother shouted.

"There is also that," Buddy was pacing now, a hand to his chin. "Millions of gil down the toilet, Brother! What are we going to do?" Buddy shouted.

"I am thinking there is nothing we can do. We just have to wait it out," Brother yawned, stretching his hands over his head.

"I'm sure I'll think of something," Buddy grumbled.


	17. Publicity stunt

It was a perfect sunny morning in Luca. It was also unfortunately early. People had been lined up since the day before to get a chance to shake hands and get their pictures taken with the Gullwings. Rikku held a hand up to the bright morning sun and squinted as she ducked off the Celsius behind Yuna and Paine. The sight they were met with stopped them in their tracks. The entire Luca square was packed to the brim and they were all cheering on the girls' arrival.

"Wow," Yuna spoke first.

"That's going to be a lot of autographs," Rikku winced.

"Remind me to have Buddy make me a stamp one of these days," Paine muttered.

Buddy, Brother and Tidus parted the crowds towards a raised platform with a table and chairs the girls would sit at to meet and greet their fans. It had been arranged the night before via commsphere. A lot of the women in the crowd were getting too excited about the closeness of Tidus and he had to duck into the group of girls.

"Even our security is famous," Paine chuckled. "God, I love irony."

"And I love sleeping. What time is it? It can't even be nine o'clock yet!" Rikku huffed through a fake smile as she waved to a group of teenaged boys screaming her name. Buddy waved to the crowds as the girls made their way to their seats. City officials tried to organize the crowd. off-season Goers were policing the crowds and herding them into organized lines. It was the biggest publicity event they'd ever done. It was different from the massive crowds after Sin or Vegnagun. These people were all here just to see their faces up close.

"Rikku, take your sunglasses off," Buddy said through gritted teeth. He was pretending to smile.

"What?" she glared up at him.

"These people did not stand in line all night to guess what you look like," he said through the same pretend grin. Paine and Yuna exchanged troubled glances and Rikku set her glasses down on the table, her jaw slack at Buddy's demand.

"Make way! Excuse me! Gullwing staff coming through!" Gippal was elbowing his way through the crowd. He was also carrying a tray with three coffees and three bottles of water on it. Rikku caught his eye and softened into a smile. He tried to return it but only got about halfway there.

"Thank you," She said as he set hers down.

"Eight sugars, mostly milk, hardly coffee still the way you take it?" He asked.

"Yes."

"Good," he got his smile to a full one before giving Paine hers. "Black?"

"Like my soul you always said," she gave him a sarcastic sneer.

"Thank you, Gippal. I'm really sorry Buddy's making you do this," Yuna whispered.

"He's not," Gippal shrugged. "Just thought you ladies could use it," He said before stepping back down to stand with Tidus and Brother.

"Alright," Paine said flatly. "What the hell?" She and Yuna were both staring at Rikku.

"Don't look at me?" Rikku sank into her chair.

The event was scheduled to run all day. It was hot out, and the girls had to remember to be as nice as humanly possible to all of the people that were standing in the heat all day just to speak to them. It would have been easier if they weren't in the heat themselves.

"Here you go!" Rikku smiled, handing back an autographed musicsphere case to a younger girl who was at a loss for words standing so close to them.

"Remember. Kick a lot of ass and take a lot of names!" Paine said, slightly perky as she penned her elegant signature on a young boy's sword. His mother didn't look amused at Paine's choice of words. "Sorry." she winced.

"Thanks for coming out!" Yuna was shaking hands with a man a few years older than they were.

"Lunchtime!" Gippal came scooting back in with wrapped up lunches for them he'd bought in town. Buddy had a look on his face where he couldn't decide if he wanted to be pleased or ripshit. "Lady Yuna," he said sarcastically, setting a bag down for her. "Completely straight mistress of darkness and gloom," Gippal put a bag down for Paine. She stuck her tongue out at him. "And Princess," he smirked at Rikku.

"You know I hate that!" she taunted in a sing song voice.

"I've got a whole slew of worse ones lined up," He chided. "Now," he squatted down between Rikku and Paine. "Me and Tidus have been talking to some of the Goers. There's a VIP party in town tonight. He says he can get us in. You want to go?" Gippal asked. Paine and Rikku met eyes.

Paine wrinkled her brow and nodded discretely towards Gippal.

Rikku shrugged slowly and bit her lower lip.

Paine leaned forward and opened her mouth, silently asking Rikku for her opinion.

Rikku rolled her eyes and scoffed.

Paine just raised a brow.

Rikku finally grinned.

"We're in," Paine replied in a hushed voice.

"How do you women DO that?" he looked baffled.

"Magic," Rikku smiled.

"I hate that answer," he stood up, chuckling and shaking his head.

"Gippal!" the next guy in line cried out.

"What!" Gippal almost jumped.

"Shelinda! There he is!" the man shouted. He had a sphere came hulking on his shoulder and was flagging the reporter over.

"Oh sweet Jesus," Rikku rolled her eyes.

"Incoming," Paine tapped Yuna on the shoulder and nodded in the direction of the rapidly approaching Shelinda.

"Gippal! WOW you are a tough one to track down! Mind if we have a few words with you?" Shelinda thrust her mic in his face.

"Uh, heh. Sure. I don't know why you want to talk to me when the ladies of the hour are right here!" He grinned, trying to step out of the frame. The cameraman followed him.

"So modest, you're something else! So we've heard through the rumor mill that you're working for the Gullwings now!" Shelinda said quickly putting the mic back in his face.

"Yeah, doing some favors for some old friends," Gippal put on his best fake smile, but he was wildly uncomfortable.

"How generous!" she was too bubbly for him. Considering who he was in love with, it was quite a feat.

"Yeah, well, I've got some free time and they needed the help, so here I am!" Gippal was fidgeting and wondering how long this was going to take.

"Free time? I'll say. What with your recent dealings with Cid and all," Shelinda chuckled.

"Yeah, about that, the paperwork isn't quite finished so I'm not supposed to talk-"

"That's gotta be rough, being on the bum end of an unfair buy-out, huh?" Shelinda thrust her microphone back at him.

"Wait, what?" Rikku looked up from the photograph of herself she was signing. She dotted the i in her name with a heart without even having to look.

"Nothing, Rik. Don't worry about it. Look, I've gotta get back to work, it was nice talking to you," Gippal said, then cleared his throat loudly as he ducked back into the crowd.

"Rikku! Do you have a moment?" Shelinda jumped up onto the stand beside the girls.

"I'm going to guess you're gonna make sure she does!" Paine rolled her eyes. The darkly dressed teen girl Paine was signing a photo for cracked smile.

"How does it feel knowing that you're the heiress to not only the Al Bhed race and all of New Home, but now the Machine Faction as well?" Shelinda cried in that fake voice of hers.

"WHAT?!" Rikku yelped.

"I'm sure the deal has your signature on it too? How could your own father keep you in the dark about something so-"

"LADIES LADIES LADIES!" Tidus shouted, jumping up and yanking the camera man around to look at him.

"Hey!" Shelinda cried.

"One night and one night only!" Tidus ripped his t shirt off and started swinging it around his head. "Come down to the Luca Square just after sundown for a meet and greet with me and members of the Tournament Champs, the BESAID AUROCHS!" Tidus was flexing and making goofy smiles at the camera. He was being ridiculous on purpose. "We'll be handing out free authentic jerseys, balls, autographs and partying with YOU on the town! Come down to Luca tonight!" He shouted, flexing and grinning some more, all the while making sure the camera was on him, and not his stunned friend. "Here, walk with me, camera dude! I'll show you all the spot!" Tidus yanked the man by the camera away from the stage and started making the long trek back to the Celsius through the crowd. Yuna flashed a thankful smile at him. Paine was feeling disgusted that she found it heartwarming.

"Hey!" Gippal grabbed him by the arm.

"Hang on, my adoring public," Tidus held a finger up to the camera. "Yeah?"

"Thanks, man," Gippal stuttered.

"No prob, Bro. You'd have done it for me," Tidus shrugged. "Come on!" He dragged the poor man with him towards the airship.

"You'd better be ready to talk to me when this is over, because I suspect you know something I clearly do NOT," Rikku hissed at Paine.

"Did you know he wasn't actually an idiot?" Paine asked after a few beats of silence. Gippal stood slackjawed in the crowd watching him go.

He probably would not have done the same. It almost made him feel bad.

"My father bought him out?!" Rikku cried throwing her hands in the air. Yuna and Paine were sitting in Rikku's bed, flinching at her shouting. Rikku was pacing and yelling while her two close friends sat by.

"We figured you knew about," Yuna winced.

"Why did I NOT know about it?" Rikku shouted.

"That's an interesting question," Paine pointed a finger.

"Not now, Dr. P. I don't have time or patience for your sass!" Rikku yelled, her hands on her hips.

"It was a bogus deal. Cid took him for everything he was worth. It's all going into New Home and all, but he's pretty much lost it all," Paine said quietly.

"Oooh!" Rikku fumed. "When I get home, Pop is getting SUCH a piece of my mind!" Rikku shouted, snatching her towel violently out of her trunk. She slammed the lid shut.

"It's okay," Yuna tried lamely.

"I'm taking a shower. You two get dressed. We're going out tonight and Tidus has evidently invited the female population of Spira so I wanna look hot!" Rikku yelled, the elevator door slamming shut behind her.


	18. VIPee

The night out was proving to be a downer. Rikku, determined not to be in a bad mood, was standing by the bar throwing beers back and not speaking to anyone. The Goers proved to be a lame time, which she vaguely remembered after dating one of them for forty-eight hours a few months back. Paine sat next to Rikku nursing her drinks and watching the crowd. Yuna, who was in a shorter skirt than usual and a lower cut top than usual was dancing with Tidus most of the night. Part of her needed the release and part of her didn't want to let go of him for one second after his impromptu broadcast that afternoon.

Buddy and Brother were chatting up the Goers cheerleaders. Brother was surprisingly making more headway than their manager, and Paine chalked it up to those bimbos thinking his accent was 'exotic'.

Gippal was sitting a few stools down the bar from Rikku. He hadn't said much to anyone since the outing of his misfortune at the press release. Nobody could blame the guy.

"This party sucks," Paine said flatly, bringing her bottle to her lips.

"It totally does," Rikku agreed, relieved that the party actually was bad and she wasn't just viewing it through a foul mood. The crowd was tame and small. It was a room full of VIPs all trying to be more VI than the P they were standing next to. Rikku only liked the fact that she was so famous because she could do whatever she wanted. She didn't care if someone was more or less famous than she was, as long as she could still go to the party.

"Do you think VIP stands for Vastly Ignorant Population?" Paine joked. She was a little buzzed and enjoying Rikku's company. She was glad someone else was disinterested in being there when they were supposedly figure heads on the guest list.

"Or Very Icky Poopheads," Rikku rolled her eyes and scoffed with such genuine disgust that Paine couldn't help but burst out laughing. Rikku smiled against her will at Paine's laugh. She really liked it when she got her like that. They both chuckled a little longer. Paine's gaze inadvertently fell on Gippal.

"Poor guy," she sighed.

"I know." Rikku was picking at her fingernails.

"I hope you're not mad at him," Paine said. Then added thoughtfully, "Over the Faction thing, anyway."

"How can I be? It wasn't his fault. Pops can be pretty persuasive," Rikku's eyes widened as she recalled some spats she'd had with her father.

"Sucks," Paine nodded.

"Yep," Rikku replied, nodding slowly back.

"You wanna call him over here?" Paine asked, a smile begging at the corners of her mouth.

"What the heck is there to say?" Rikku kept her voice down.

"I don't know. I thought you two were trying to be friends now," Paine shrugged.

"Yeah, what the hell," Rikku surrendered. "Flag him over."

"Hey! Dipshit!" Paine shouted. Gippal looked up just the same as if she'd shouted his name. "Get over here and stop moping by yourself!" Gippal pretended to scowl and make a production out of getting up, but was soon sitting on Rikku's other side.

"Evening, Ladies," he offered up a weak attempt at a smile.

"Think this party sucks shoopuf balls too?" Rikku asked flatly. Gippal choked on his drink laughing at her frankness.

"Well, I wasn't phrasing it quite so eloquently as you, Princess, but yeah. Completely," Gippal laughed.

"What did I say about Princess?" Rikku joked, a hand on her hip.

"It's the truth, though. That's not fair," Gippal argued.

"Well, when I'm head of the Al Bhed, I'll appoint you as my executive butthead. That way we can keep all our facts straight.

"I gotta pee. I drank enough to try and make this party interesting and it didn't work," Paine excused herself.

"Look, Rik," Gippal began after a few beats of silence. The bass of the music and noise of the crowd was filling space for them. "About this whole thing."

"Don't, Gip," she said quickly, cutting him off. Her voice was soft. So were her eyes. He swallowed hard. "I know how he can be, and I'd really rather hear it from him than from you." Gippal smiled at her. It was a grateful smile and it made them both feel good in a weird way.

"Thanks," he said carefully.

"You're welcome," she replied, an honest smile spreading on her lips.

"Those bathrooms were not VI enough for my pee," Paine rolled her eyes as she popped back into the group. "I'll hold it till we get home."

"Hey guys!" a more than pleasantly buzzed Tidus and Yuna popped up, sweaty and grabby, next to the group. "We're gonna head home. Yuna's a little tipsy," Tidus bellowed. He was shirtless. He promised to give away jerseys and had drawn such a crowd that he ended up giving up the one he was wearing.

"Oh thank god, we were just talking about leaving," Rikku piped in.

"Should someone tell Buddy that we're-"

"NO!" Paine and Rikku cut Yuna off.

"Let's just get out of here," Tidus winked at Rikku. Everyone else was starting to catch on that Tidus knew more than they thought.

"Why sit in this dump when we can go home and drink for free in our jammies?" Rikku asked.

--

"Sometimes, I just don't know WHAT to think about you two!" Rikku giggled at the punch line of another one of Paine and Gippal's war stories about re-wiring Nooj's appendages in the trenches while he was sleeping.

"Oh come on, you would have been all over that, and you're better with microrobotics than I am. You would have had his arm on his knee in no time programmed to juggle his balls!" Gippal was roaring with laughter.

"TELL me you didn't," Rikku cried, nearly spitting her drink out. They'd had a few more rounds back home and were now almost in tears they were all laughing so hard. Tidus and Yuna had turned in and the group successfully left Buddy and Brother in the club.

"We didn't, but you've got to admit, that'd be something to see!" Gippal slapped his knee and Paine fell forward, covering her face with her hands as she shook with laughter. They all froze when the elevator door slid open. It was technically a public cabin, but no one went there this late because it doubled as Paine and Rikku's personal quarters. It was Tidus and he had a guilty drunk grin on his face.

"Hi," he giggled.

"Are you lost?" Paine asked flatly.

"Yuna's passed out and I want to party more. I could hear you guys up here so I thought I'd join!" he chuckled. They shared a three way glance and shrugged.

"Pull up a chair, dude," Gippal nodded at the empty seat next to him. They were lounging around one of the tables in the middle of the floor.

"Niiiice!" Tidus flashed a thumbs up that they all found cheesy, but he was already up and bought another round of beers over which they found perfectly wonderful.

"Welcome to the nightlife club, Tidus," Paine raised her beer. All four of them clinked bottles. "I feel like we need to initiate this guy or something. His lady never lets him stay up late with us." Tidus was beaming at the idea of some sort of initiation. He hoped it involved binge drinking, yelling and maybe some streaking for good measure.

"Whoa-ho! Bring it on!" Tidus punched his fists against his still bare chest.

"Easy, killer," Rikku giggled. "How do you want to do this?" she glanced back and forth between Paine and Gippal.

"Well, the way we use to get the rookies on leave is pretty easy. Especially cause we know him," Paine raised a brow at Gippal.

"We're going to get him really fucked up if we're not careful," Gippal rolled his jaw in thought.

"Yuna is going to kill you if you break him," Rikku pointed at Gippal with a stern look in her eyes.

"Fuck Yuna, let's do it!" Paine slapped the tabletop.

"Yeah!" Tidus cheered, two fists in the air.

"Alright. See if you can catch on," Gippal smirked at Tidus. "Never have I ever fucked the high summoner."

"Oh crap," Tidus laughed, picking up his beer and taking a sip. "You assholes. This is going to be a mess! I LOVE YOU!" Tidus cried. "Alright, Alright, fine. I can play this shit. Never have I ever fucked someone in the room. Eh? EH?" He pointed at Rikku and Gippal who bashfully drank. They made blushed eye contact and smiled around the tops of their bottles.

"Never have I ever played for the Besaid Aurochs," Rikku sarcastically stuck her tongue out at him. She was too drunk to care about the fact that someone had just made a sex reference to her and Gippal.

"Lame," Tidus huffed, taking his drink. "Never have I ever been part of the Crimson Squad," Tidus said back just as tartly. Paine and Gippal were good sports and drank.

"Never have I ever done it on the Celsius," Paine raised a brow.

"Oh come on!" the other three cried.

"What? I haven't?" she shrugged.

"Never have I ever gone on Yuna's pilgrimage," Gippal laughed drunkenly halfway through his broken sentence.

"Does that count cause he's dumb?" Rikku pointed over her shoulder with her thumb and looked at Paine.

"Have you ever gone on Yuna's pilgrimage?" Paine asked, giving it her all not to laugh.

"Fine," Rikku snapped, taking a sharp sip of her drink. Tidus already had.

"Never have I ever done it in a blitz locker room," Tidus slurred. Rikku blushed immediately. "Yeah! Alright! That's what I'm talking 'bout Little Rikku," Tidus clinked his bottle to hers across the table and they both shared the drink.

"Certainly not with him, I hope," Gippal joked.

"No! Not ever!" Rikku laughed. Gippal was laughing too. Her warm drunk mind was making just enough of the situation to enjoy the comfort of just hanging out with him. "By the way, IDIOT. You're not supposed to screw YOURSELF!"

"But Yuna's already passed out? Somebody has to!" He laughed at himself and the trio burst out too.

"Alright, hang on," Paine held her hand up. "This I gotta know. Never have I ever cum in Yuna's bed."

"Psh. DAILY!" Tidus pumped a fist in the air and chugged his drink. Rikku and Gippal were both biting their lower lips and looking at their feet, periodically glancing sidelong at the other. After an embarrassed delay, they finally both drank. "I'm telllllin!" Tidus pointed at the two of them.

"No you're not. Then you'll have to tell her you were up late playing drinking games with us instead of spooning her all night like she thinks," Paine scoffed.

"Touche, Dr. P," Tidus looked up at her, almost hurt.

"Who taught him that?!" Paine glared at Rikku and Gippal. "Never have I ever taught him that shit!" Paine yelled. They both drank and leaned away from her in unison.

Twelve empty bottles on the table later had the trio bursting into giggles over every question.

"Alright. Okay, Alright," Tidus's eyes were half shut. He was sitting on the floor now wearing the helmet from Paine's Samurai dressphere. Gippal was wearing Rikku's black mage hat and feeling rather festive. "Never have I ever boned someone in a club on the dance floor."

"Have you been SPYING on us for the past four years?" Rikku cried out, shoving Gippal in the shoulder.

"With all due respect, Ladies and Bonehead, it was HER idea!" Gippal shoved her back.

"It was NOT!" Rikku yelped, standing up and glaring down at him.

"I'm just kidding, Rik! Jeez!" Gippal laughed, grabbing her by the forearm and pulling her down to sit on his lap. She didn't protest and they both drank.

"Vilgehk zylgycc," (fucking jackass) Rikku muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"YIKES!" Paine and Gippal laughed.

"Never have I ever fallen asleep in the act," Gippal sneered at Rikku.

"Oh my god, ONE TIME!" she shouted, taking a drink.

"You and me are kindred spirits, Rikku," Tidus drank with wide eyes.

"Shut up, you?" Paine slowly turned over her shoulder to look at him.

"I am only so much man after fifteen drinks with the little umbrellas in them they have in Kilika," Tidus shrugged.

"I'll say," Gippal tipped his bottle towards Tidus.

"Never have I ever dated one of the Gullwings, Suckers," Rikku laughed.

"Cheap shot," Gippal took another drink. Tidus was trying not to tip over.

"This helmet rules," he perked up. They ignored him. "Never have I ever taken it in the butt." Suddenly they all perked up. No one said anything at first. "What, they don't have up-the-butt in Spira?" He looked at each of their blank faces. "Then you should probably excuse me because I need to wake my girlfriend up and apologize PROFUSELY!" Tidus clambered to his feet.

"Oh no!" Rikku laughed.

"My EYE!" Gippal covered his good eye.

"She LET YOU?" Paine's jaw was still slack.

"Oh, so you do have that? GREAT!" Tidus cried.

"I can't believe this," Rikku wiped her hand over her eyes, she and Paine both bashfully drinking. She rested her head down on Gippal's shoulder. The booze and the long day in the sun were starting to get to her. She was falling asleep.

"Never have I ever done it in the can," Tidus tried.

"Dude, you just DID up-the-butt!" Gippal waved a hand.

"I mean the bathroom, shithead," Tidus laughed.

"Oh. In that case," Gippal took a swig. Paine took an extra long chug. Rikku sleepily raised her head to take a sip.

"I hate vilgehk in the bathroom," (fucking) she mumbled.

"That's not what you used to say," Gippal joked.

"I was young then. And trying to spite my vydran," (father) Rikku yawned, setting her bottle on the table and dropping her hand on Gippal's chest. She was laboring to keep her head up.

"Never have I ever fallen asleep in the game!" Tidus pointed at her.

"kad Vilgat, Oajuheda bnelg," (get fucked, Yevonite prick) Rikku chuckled as her head lolled back onto Gippal's shoulder.

"My Al Bhed is rusty, but I know that that had some dirty words in it, Young Lady," Tidus playfully shook a finger at her. She smiled and chuckled lightly, but nuzzled her forehead into the crook of Gippal's neck. He swallowed hard, suddenly wide awake.

The game filtered to a stop, but Gippal, Paine and Tidus continued to chat and laugh for quite some time longer. Rikku was fast asleep in Gippal's arms and he was using every fiber of his being to ignore her body. The hand on his chest slid down and wrapped itself around his waist, snuggling herself as close to him as she could get. He could tell by the way she was breathing that she was completely out. He'd shared a bed with her for enough years to know how she slept. Her hair smelled dangerously good and it was tickling his chin. He was having a hard time focusing on what Paine and Tidus were talking about.

From what he could tell, it was Tidus's brilliantly idiotic stunt at the meet and greet. The moron had really saved his ass. He hadn't given the guy a proper thanks, or the proper chance. He made a silent resolution to try and not be such a dick to him when they set the stage up in the morning. On the other hand, he knew how hung over he'd be and how frustrated he was going to be after Rikku snuggled in his lap for a hour and he couldn't so much as kiss the top of her head even though it seemed to be the only thing he could think of doing at the moment.

"Alright. I think we have all drunk ourselves to the level of 'getting yelled at by Yuna tomorrow' so I'm going to hit the sack," Paine stretched, setting her last empty bottle on the table.

"Who are you telling?" Tidus muttered, setting her helmet down with a clang on the table. They all jumped. Rikku didn't stir. "Night guys!" he headed for the elevator and they called good night after him.

"Why don't you let me take this off your hands," Paine nonchalantly snatched Rikku's mage hat off Gippal's head. He chuckled.

"C'mon, Rik," Gippal gave her a shake. She didn't budge. She was in her pajamas which was both good and bad. Good, because he didn't have to change her and she didn't have as much skin exposed. Bad because she was still wearing his god forsaken undershirt and those stupid pilgrimage shorts that drove him nuts. "Princess?" He tried.

"Fryd?"(what) she moaned.

"Bedtime, Cid's Girl," He said softly. Paine rolled her eyes from the stairs.

"Pid E's hud denat," (But I'm not tired) she said, her voice muffled by the front of his shirt.

"Yes you are, come on, get up," He tried not to laugh. He tried not to kiss her.

"Lynno sa," (carry me) she whined. He bit his lip, trying not to laugh at how sweet and freaking adorable she was. He hoisted her up easily and carried her to the stairs. She looped her slim arms around his neck.

"Deja Vu, Executive Butthead," Paine smirked.

"Go to hell," Gippal smiled at her and laid Rikku down on her bed. "Come on, get some blankets. Tuck yourself in," He said, pulling the sheets up over her sprawled out body.

"E's cunno so vydran ec y zang," (I'm sorry my father is a jerk) Rikku mumbled into the pillow.

"Rik, Babe, don't," He winced. He used to call her Babe a lot. That one slipped out. He hoped she didn't catch it.

"Ugyo," (okay) she sighed heavily.

"Night, Rik," he said again, bending down and finally planting that soft, chaste kiss in her hair he'd been fighting for hours.

"Night," she didn't budge. He backed away a few steps and waved goodnight to Paine. "E mega ed frah oui lymm sa Pypa," (I like it when you call me Babe) she said, just barely loud enough for him to hear.

"Me too," he said quietly once the elevator door shut behind him.


	19. Screwing in the Engine Room

"Good morning, BABE," Paine smirked at Gippal as she hopped in line next to him at the breakfast buffet Buddy had gotten them all into.

"Very funny," Gippal pretended to laugh. They were all unhappy with a 9 am meeting on their day off, but Buddy didn't want to waste any time on the road. They all settled into a long table as usual, Buddy at the head with far too much paperwork for that hour of the morning.

"Hi," Rikku said, almost chipper, to Gippal who sat down across from her. Her voice was stuck in her throat. She wasn't quite ready for a hangover-zapping potion just yet. It might make her feel worse.

"Hi," he smiled back. This was nice. This he could handle. She was half dressed, her stupid miniskirt he loved to hate and he could see the straps of her bikini poking out the neck of his t shirt. She hadn't dealt with her hair yet, it was just in a high ponytail with messy pieces all over her face from tossing and turning into her pillow. She was also wearing flip flops, having not quite made it into any Gullwing Heels yet this morning.

"Sleep okay?" she asked, biting into a fruit.

"Yeah. You?" he asked, spooning oatmeal into his mouth.

"Like a big fat rock!" she giggled.

"Good morning everyone," Buddy said glumly from the head of the table. He had his goggles on and looked worse for wear. His late night hours logged at the club were starting to show.

"Buddy, can you take your goggles off? I didn't wait in line all day to guess what you look like," Rikku grinned playfully, a piece of melon between her teeth. Laughs went up all around the table.

"Yuck, Yuck, Rikku," Buddy smiled at her. She looked back down at her plate to avoid his eye. "Moving on. Reports. Brother?" Buddy pointed at Brother with his pen. The eccentric Al Bhed was fast asleep at the table. He had been sighted slinking back onto the Celsius about twenty minutes before they all left for breakfast. He smelled like cheap cheerleaders and champagne.

"E'mm dyga oui pudr yd uhla! Drana ec ahuikr du ku ynuiht!" (I'll take you both at once! There is enough to go around!) he shouted, snorting and throwing his head up, waking with a start.

"Pnudran!" (Brother) Rikku gasped.

"He shoots he scores!" Gippal tipped his glass of juice at their bizarre pilot who was just coming to and was clueless as to why everyone was in his fantasy.

"Brother. Reports." Buddy sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"The engine. She is busted, I am thinking. I noticed it when I was taking Tidus's little Auroch friends home last night. She makes a gagging sound, kind of a kkk-kk-kkkkrrrrggghhh-HA! HA! ka-CHA" Brother shouted.

"I noticed that myself. Can you fix it?" Buddy asked.

"Probably not, but I am guessing the greaser or my sister could have a good go at it," Brother shrugged, folding his arms and preparing to go back to sleep.

"Done. Gippal? Fix the engine today. Moving on," Buddy looked at his paper work and turned the page.

"Whoa, whoa, we don't even know what's wrong it with. And this guy's half asleep. ka-CHA and ka-CHOW and cha-CHINK all sound a like when you're still drunk from yesterday, but those are all very different problems!" Gippal sat up straight.

"And ka-chu-chug is typically expensive," Rikku added absentmindedly.

"She's right," Gippal pointed at Rikku without looking away from Buddy.

"I know," Rikku smiled to herself as she picked apart another fruit with her hands.

"So figure out what kind of ka-cha we have on our hands and take care of it. Next," Buddy huffed.

"By myself? We need to be in the air in two days. Not to mention me and Tidus are booked all day tomorrow. I'm going to need help," Gippal said firmly.

"So go into town and find a mechanic. Next, Yuna-"

"Why can't Rikku just do it? She's better at it than either of you are," Gippal nodded at Buddy and Brother. Buddy set his jaw and stared hard at Gippal.

"Fine. Rikku, you and Gippal can fix the engine," Buddy said. They smiled at one another across the table. Just like old times. At least that's what they would tell themselves to make it easier. "And Tidus will help you."

"WHAT?!" They both yelped. Buddy tried not to let his smile show. No way he was leaving the two of them alone. Lugnuts and motoroil were aphrodisiacs to the ex-lovers.

"Someone else should learn how it works incase you need to sort ka-chings and ka-plows while Rikku has a show to put on," Buddy said. "Moving on."

"But he doesn't know anything about-"

"Moving on."

"Paine knows more than he does about-"

"Moving ON."

"Let us get a mechanic from town then!"

"MOVING. ON." Buddy snapped. "Yuna. I want to sit down with you and discuss productivity with your practicing and how the dresspheres..."

"drec ec vilgehk netelimuic," (this is fucking ridiculous) Gippal muttered, stabbing his fork into anything on his plate that would take the blow.

"E ghuf, pid mad'c zicd kad ed tuha. Bmayca?" (I know, but let's just get it done. Please?) Rikku glanced up at him.

"Fine."

"Hey, Gip, hey," Tidus caught up with Gippal as the group headed back to the ship. "Look Bro, I'm sorry. You know I had nothing to do with this," Tidus said in a hushed voice, falling into stride alongside Gippal.

"Yeah, I know. It's nothing personal. You just don't know the work. It will be pointless to show you what takes months, even years, to learn, so you're going to just waste your day sitting there," Gippal shrugged.

"Oh. Right. The actual work," Tidus clapped Gippal on the shoulder.

"What?" Gippal squinted back at him.

"Dude, come on." Tidus tried not to laugh. "Are you dense?"

"Kettle? I'm the pot. You're very black," Gippal said faltly.

"Wait what? Whatever. Dude come on! This is your chance to get all hot and sweaty and dirty with Rikku and I have to sit there all day and watch!" Tidus said, keeping his voice low. "Which might not be all bad for me, now that I think about it."

It started to dawn on Gippal just what he'd be up to all day long. They were on some pretty good terms right now and he didn't need to ruin everything by getting over excited by her wrenching wires in a skirt. He wouldn't admit out loud that machines made him a little hot anyway, and Rikku with machines were present in countless late night fantasies of his. Maybe having Tidus around wouldn't be such a bad idea after all. It would certainly cut down on him accidentally calling her Babe.

"I want you there. The whole time," Gippal said firmly, resting a heavy hand on Tidus's shoulder.

"What?" Tidus shook his head in disbelief.

"Unless I tell you to leave? You're going to be my big, dumb, blond safety blanket," Gippal smiled. "No offense."

"Whatever you say, Boss," Tidus shrugged. Those Al Bhed were weird.

--

"So are we going to teach him what's actually going on or just do this thing as fast as possible?" Rikku asked, strolling into the engine room. She was right on time, a few minutes early by his watch, and he refused to take it as some sort of good sign.

"Buddy says he has to be here, so I figure he can nap by the door while you and I get busy over there," Gippal flinched. "I mean get to work," he paused again. "Rather, do our thing, I mean-"

"Please, spare me the 'lube and oil' and 'drill and screw' jokes and let's get this done so we can nap before we go out later," Rikku rolled her eyes with a smile that bordered on flirty and kicked her toolbox open with her boot.

"Now I remember why I asked for you on this job," Gippal smiled at her back. She was already heading for the malfunctioning engine, tools in hand.

The afore mentioned ka-CHA was coupled with a series of ker-plunks, gr-gr-gr-RWWWs and a very unnerving whiirrrrrr. Tidus sat diligently by the door with a wrench nearby that he could grab and look attentive should Buddy waltz in to check on progress. It was highly likely since Rikku was present. Rikku and Gippal worked hard on the engine with little to no communication. They didn't need it This was their element. This was what they knew. Machines were in their blood.

She'd put on a skin tight black tank top. It was perfect attire for squirming in and out of the tight spaces in the engine, but the way it lingered on every edge of her curves made Gippal grind his teeth. That tiny green miniskirt didn't seem all together practical, but she had saved the world in it, so why not the engine? She was lying on her back under the main combustion unit reaching up into the belly of the Celsius's main power source. She had work goggles on and was firing a welding gun like it was nothing to talk about.

He hated himself for noticing how sweaty she was. She had grease all over her and it was so sexy that he slipped and scraped all of his knuckles on the rotator he was adjusting that would supposedly do something about the whiirrrr issue. He silently cursed and pressed his bloody knuckles against his pants. He'd tossed his shirt hours ago. It was almost a hundred and twenty degrees down there. Heat they could handle, they were children of the desert, but he was cursing his ancestors for being such a scantily clad race.

She couldn't see him from down there and certainly couldn't hear him with the welder going, but she knew he was watching. She could feel his eyes on her the moment she walked in. She was silently flirting. It wasn't the kind were he could flirt back, at least not right away anyway. She used her feminine wiles to get him interested and her mechanical know-how to really turn him on. She blushed in spite of herself as she welded the computer chips back into place. She knew what she was doing was mean, but the heat in her gut was taking over for her normally so-so conscience.

She just wished Tidus would leave. And then what? Nothing could happen, not yet anyway. It as all too soon and she was trying to keep her legs crossed for as long as humanly possible per Lulu's request. That mage had good advice. Even though he was asleep more often than not, Tidus's presence made her unspoken mating dance of repairs a lot harder to perform. She was doing a fine enough job, and she could tell, and perhaps she ought to start actually working hard so as to get that nap in she was joking about earlier.

Her legs. WHY were her legs so long? And so touchable. He could see the sweat running down them, mixing with the grease and oil from the ship that lay in smudged handprints up and down her bare thighs. Those black and brown smears were incriminating. It was like the grease had invaded his mind, painting up and down her smooth skin exactly here he wanted his hands. He swallowed hard as she stretched to reach the farthest wire fixture and a thin line of tan skin peeked out between her skirt and her top.

He shook off the rest of the pain in his knuckles and went back to work. This was torture. He should never have asked for help and just worked all night alone and frustrated. Shit, she was good at this. The way they climbed all over the engine, barely needing to speak, they just knew. They worked in perfect rhythm, the same perfect rhythm, silent conversations, hands and legs and tools and all the SWEAT holy FUCK it was like having SEX with her! He hated that this was turning him on as much as it was. And last night's talk of bathrooms and dance floors and sexsexSEX it was suffocating!

This would be a lot easier if he was wearing a shirt. Life would be a lot easier for her if he could keep a stupid shirt on. She slid herself out. She was done below and needed to focus her attention on the gr-gr-gr-RWWWs coming from the vertical thrusters. Maybe it would take her mind off his pecks. She set the welder down and bent at the waist, leaving very little to the imagination as she searched through the array of tools spread out on the floor. She could see his annoying biceps out of the corner of her eye, and stole a better look. His back, holy shit, his back. Everything rippled in rhythm as he forced the rotators tighter. All that talk about dance floors and bathrooms... that's how his back looked in the mirror in Pop's bathroom when she made Gippal screw her in there cause she was mad at her father.

And Brother' bathroom mirror.

And Yuna's.

She slipped an assortment of wrenches into her belt that she'd probably need and set about fixing the vertical thrusters, all the while trying very hard not to think about vertical thrusting and failing miserably. Maybe she should have kept being a bitch. Then he would have kept being a jerk and no one would smile at each other and there would be no shared glances and she could go about her 9 to 5 rock star job in peace.

She looked really tiny next to the thrusters. Her waist was so little. Her shoulders were taught as she lifted the caps off. They were almost too heavy for her, but not quite. Offering to help would put him back in the dog house. He knew to just let her be. Also, from that angle, he could watch. She paused and let out the sexiest little sigh before setting aside her wrenches and pulling her headband down to wipe the sweat off her face. She took down her hair and ran her fingers though it, flicking sweat off the wet ends. He winced. She whipped it back up onto a pony tail and resumed working. She had to know what she was doing to him, didn't she? Somehow, it was hotter if she did.

The dim orange light in the engine room was giving their glistening bodies an all too familiar bedroom hue. She tried not to look at him. It was almost dinner time and they were nearing completion. She could hear him behind her working on the turbines. That was the last project left. She was done with the verticals and was going to have to join him soon. She took her sweet time screwing the caps back into place to delay the inevitable.

She said nothing as she kneeled across from him. He tried to ignore her closeness as he cleaned the excess oil out of the run off traps with a filthy rag. She was unrolling a coil of wire and replacing the charred ones in the fixture between them. She was close enough to touch, close enough to kiss even, and it was taking every ounce of him to ignore her. He set the main units back in place and they both worked socket wrenches hard on all the lock pieces. They pumped their arms faster, trying to match the other as they sped up, wanting to get their side finished first just to prove a childish point. Breath was heavy and he caught a glimpse of a trail of sweat dripping from her chin to the floor boards. They both dropped their wrenches in victory at the same time, taking in labored gasps.

"Oh my god, it's been ages," she sighed, a dreamy look in her eye. She forgot how much she loved machina. How well she knew it.

"Feeling rusty?" He grinned.

"Maybe a little. I hope I didn't disappoint." she smirked.

"Never."

"Was it as good for you?" She sighed, wiping her brow and basking in the vast job they had completed in under nine hours.

"Always," he tried to keep his grin from reaching his ears.

"It never used to make me this tired," she wrinkled her nose a bit.

"You're just out of practice," he chuckled.

"We used to do it non-stop! Days at a time! I just started speaking to you again, I didn't expect a work out!" She was panting heavily.

"That's IT! You two are DISGUSTING and I can't STAND IT!" Tidus jumped up. "Are we done?!"

"I dunno, I could go again?" Gippal smirked at her.

"Oh yeah? So soon? You used to need a break," Rikku smirked back harder.

"I'm leaving," Tidus said flatly.


	20. Richest Woman in Spira

_"Here comes trouble," Paine smirked as she spotted Rikku and Gippal walking towards them. She was sitting with Tidus and Yuna at an outdoor restaurant enjoying happy hour before their other two friends arrived. Yuna had picked the spot earlier in the day and told everyone to meet up there._

_"You don't even know the half of it," Tidus rolled his eyes._

_"Hey!" Yuna smiled cheerily and waved. Gippal and Rikku were still filthy from their day of work. Between cleaning up all the tools and putting the last of the engine back together, they didn't have any time before they were supposed to meet for dinner. The group watched as the pair approached, seemingly talking and laughing. At one point, Rikku let out an exaggerated gasp and playfully swatted Gippal across the cheek, leaving a small greasy handprint. He shoved her back, and pretty hard, making her stumbled to the side bursting into giggles all the while._

_"What. The Hell." Paine looked at Tidus._

_"Weirdos," was all Tidus got out, shaking his head and grabbing a swig of his drink. The trio had ordered a round waiting for the mechanics to show up._

_"Hi! Sorry we're late!" Rikku's laughter died down as she took a seat._

_"Rikku! You're filthy!" Yuna hissed._

_"So what? I was ALMOST on time!" Rikku chided. "Anyway, who cares? It's our day off! What'd you girls do?" Rikku leaned back and flagged down a waiter as she spoke._

_"It was terrible," Yuna said, more honestly than she intended. "Buddy practically put me to sleep with all his business chatter!" Yuna sighed. Everyone else laughed. "Why do you think I insisted on a work free dinner? I refused to tell him where we were going! I don't want to THINK about numbers or anything until tomorrow," Yuna laughed._

_"Wiser than I thought she was," Gippal elbowed Rikku and she jabbed him in the ribs with hers._

_"He's just taking this a little too seriously for me," Yuna held up a hand._

_"I managed to avoid the Celsius today and picked up one of THESE while I was in town!" Paine jumped in, waving one of Shelinda's weekly tabloids above her head out of everyone's reach. Since Shelinda started the weekly publications, the Gullwings made it mandatory that once a week they sit down and read about themselves with one another over dinner in order to make sure all of the 'facts' were indeed true. They also liked to see how Spira was perceiving them, and whatever Rikku was getting herself into that week. More often than not, Yuna and Paine didn't want to know if the stories about Rikku were fact or fiction._

_"Oooooh!" Rikku clapped her hands and jumped out of her chair involuntarily. She loved the weekly tabloid read and couldn't wait to see what she was up to. _

_"Do the honors, Paine," Yuna gestured at Paine who sarcastically cleared her throat and held the magazine up so the rest of them could see the cover. It was a picture from Besiad with the headline 'Gullwings Soar on a World Tour'._

_"We don't usually do this with an audience," Paine flicked her eyes over the pages at Tidus and Gippal._

_"Who cares? Our entire lives are public! They can pick one of these up and read it themselves? Bring it on!" Rikku cried, taking the two bottles she had ordered from the waiter. One was Gippal's. She hadn't even asked what he wanted because she already knew the answer. She knew what kind of beer he liked and that he would want one. This was how they used to operate, just getting each other drinks to make it easier _

_"Thanks Rik," he said, taking a swig with one hand and draping the other over the back of her chair casually. She leaned back in her chair, crossing one arm over her chest and drinking with the other. She could feel his forearm on the back of her neck and it felt good. Yuna's jaw dropped._

_"I told you!" Tidus growled under his breath._

_"That's right! You heard it here! The Gullwings are off on a world tour! Tickets are completely sold out all over Spira to see the rocking trio spread their wings on stage!" Paine read in a falsely upbeat voice. "She is so lame," she tacked on in her usual tone before diving back in. "We've all heard them sing, we've all seen them dance, but who are these generous and genuine ladies when they're not on stage?" Paine carried on._

_"Uh oh!" Rikku joked. "An expose piece? Shelinda! You've gone hard on us!"_

_"Spira's favorite Al Bhed Bad Girl-" _

_"Bad girl?!" Rikku squawked. "Since when am I a bad girl?! I'm the HOT girl! Paine's the bad girl!"_

_"Which one am I?" Yuna asked innocently._

_"The wholesome, sweet one," Paine and Rikku answered flatly in unison._

_"Really?" Yuna leaned back a bit, not sure if she was disappointed or not. _

_"Go on," Rikku sighed, half joking as she pounded a sharp sip of beer. "Tell me why I'm the bad girl this week." _

_"...Stopped to chat with me outside an inn in Luca early one morning last week. She was dressed for nightlife at breakfast, but still paused to greet a few fans before attending a morning meeting with the rest of the band," Paine kept reading._

_"What were you doing in a hotel in Luca when you have an apartment right across-"_

_"SLEEPING! JEEZ! Read the article!" Rikku interrupted Tidus as best she could. Gippal tried not to turn red as he drank hard from his bottle to numb the thoughts of her with others._

_"And it's easy to see why Rikku is such a busy girl. Recent reports state that she is by leaps and bounds the richest woman in Spira," Paine read slowly before looking up at Rikku somewhat confused. They were all staring._

_"I am?" Rikku wrinkled her nose._

_"Earnings from Lady Yuna's pilgrimage and spherehunting with the Gullwings, and ultimately bringing down the Colossus Vegnagun put the trio in the top alone, but the Al Bhed Heiress's fortune doesn't stop there. Royalties from the Gullwings music career coupled with profits from New Home logged in her name and her family's recent addition of the multimillion gil Machine Faction... You know? Maybe we should do this later," Paine finished quickly, slapping the magazine closed and looking away._

_"Let's get a drink, Tidus," Gippal stood up, nodding towards the bar inside the restaurant._

_"We already have drinks," Tidus shook his head with confusion as he pointed at the bottles in front of Gippal and himself._

_"Let's go get stronger ones. Rikku's buying. She's a billionaire," Gippal tried to smile at her but it just didn't happen._

_"Keep reading it," Rikku grumbled once the men were gone. Paine took a deep breath and continued._

_"...Multimillion Gil Machine Faction have sent her soaring over her bandmates." Paine turned the page, skipping over the pictures of them all about Luca and Besaid. There were a few of Rikku signing some inappropriate parts of the Besaid Aurochs that the apparently-rich, sulking heiress didn't need to know about right now._

_"I should probably hire an accountant. The entire world knows more about my financial status than I do," Rikku muttered._

_"There appears to be no bad blood between Rikku and childhood best friend, three-time-ex-boyfriend, Gippal, former head of the Machine Faction. He is now working for her in more ways than one, running the sound equipment on the Gullwings Tour," Paine paused to take a sip of her drink._

_"She's making me sound terrible!" Rikku cried._

_"Yuna, Spira's savior and leader of the pack, was seen complimenting his success in Kilika just this past week. Spira's Sweetheart-"_

_"Told you!" Rikku interrupted._

_"And Boy Toy Tidus-"_

_"Boy Toy?!" Yuna cried._

_"Are still publicly affectionate, yet there are no reports of wedding bells or a ring on the former-summoner's finger," Paine went on._

_"Why is that any of her business?" Yuna huffed._

_"That is TAME! Did you MISS the part where I'm the biggest asshole on the planet?!" Rikku shouted._

_"He's a bigger asshole than you," Yuna said firmly, pointing at Rikku._

_"Did you just say asshole?" Paine asked flatly._

_"Yes. And he IS an asshole," Yuna said, her protective family role showing through._

_"He's not an asshole," Rikku said quickly. Yuna froze. Paine dropped her bottle to the table in shock with a thunk. Yuna grabbed Paine's arm._

_"Oh good Christ, she's sick! Do you have a garment grid with you? Tell me it's got a whitemage dressphere, or the alchemist, SOMETHING. We're going to need some healing! She's ILL there might not be a lot of TIME!" Yuna joked._

_"Vilg uvv, Yunie, I'm fine," (fuck off) Rikku scowled._

_"She said-"_

_"I know what she said, Paine!" Yuna snapped at the warrior._

_"Well," Paine tried not to smile while the two cousins scowled. "Doesn't anyone want to know what it says about ME?" she tried._

_"Ev ed rehdc yd oui tydehk sa ykyeh, E tuh'd lyna," (If it hints at you dating me again, I don't care) Rikku sighed, taking a swig from her bottle._

_"Nothing!" Paine pretended to be surprised. "Paine, The Gullwings' bassist, continues to serve up bottomless portions of attitude on and off stage." _

_"No one cares about your personal life because there's no chance you're going to run theirs. Yunie recently saved the world TWICE and I have to inherit an entire race of people I don't want. They want her in charge of things, not the slutty princess," Rikku grumbled._

_"You're not a REAL princess," Paine reminded her._

_"Same thing!" Rikku threw her hands up._

_"Can't wait until Shelinda and her goons get a load of you and Gippal's new romance," Paine raised a brow._

_"WHAT!" Rikku cried. "WHAT romance? What is he telling you? It's lies. He's such an ASSHOLE!" Rikku pounded a fist on the table._

_"I just told you he was an asshole!" Yuna protested._

_"He hasn't said a word, it's written all over your face," Paine said slowly, making a point to drag one of her fingers through the grease on Rikku's cheek, then wiped it on the Al Bhed's skirt. _

_"Why I could just-"_

_"Are you girls done?" Tidus asked. He and Gippal returned to the table with a new round of drinks for everyone. _

_"YES." Rikku snapped reaching for her refill._

_"Public doesn't love you this week?" Tidus winced. The last time he saw her use that tone after tabloid dinner was after her horrendously public break up with Gippal. After which she locked herself in her room and cried for a few days. Paine was the only person she spoke to, and barely._

_"They love making me into a Jackass. You know, those hold-over Yevonite cuhc-uv-pedlrac need to just get the vilg over my race already! I'm SORRY that I'm rich and famous and important and too sexy for their temples but three out of four of those are NOT on purpose!"(sons-of-bitches) (fuck) Rikku's voice escalated. She let out a heated sigh. _

_"I'm gonna go ahead and rule out rich and important, but I can't decide between the other two," Tidus scratched his chin._

_"Sexy, dipshit. She means sexy," Gippal snapped. No one said anything. "So it was famous? Shit. You think you know a girl," Gippal joked, pulling her headband down over her eyes._

_"No, it was totally sexy," Rikku sighed, pushing her headband up. He had draped his hand on the back of her chair again and she unconsciously leaned towards him as she moped. "I just liked being a Gullwing because it was fun. I liked how much everyone enjoyed it! Now we can't even go out to eat without someone yelling-"_

_"Gullwings! Over here!" a photographer shouted._

_"SEE?! Do you see what I'm saying?" Rikku snapped. _

_"Why don't you give him a million gil to shut up?" Gippal joked. No one thought it was funny._

_"I told you he was an asshole," Yuna muttered._

_"The worst," Gippal grinned at her. He shot the high summoner a wink then got up out of his chair, heading for the photographer._

_"What is he doing?" Yuna hissed._

_"Who knows?" Rikku shrugged._

_"Hey Pal," Gippal smiled politely. "If we give you a few photos, will you get lost?" _

_"I'll think about it," the photographer looked sidelong at Gippal._

_"Then get over here and take your pictures so the girls can get back to dinner, okay?" Gippal tried to remain polite. Gippal escorted the photographer to the table. "Our friend here is going to take a few pictures and then leave us alone," Gippal announced._

_"Gippal!" Rikku hissed. "I look awful!" _

_"You look fine, this will get him off your back," Gippal kept his voice hushed. They all forced smiles for photos. The photographer thanked them and was kindly shoved away by Gippal._

_"Thanks," Yuna grumbled._

_"Don't mention it," Gippal sighed. _

_"You were pretty good with that Photographer," Paine tacked on thoughtfully._

_"Well I was famous for a Hot Minute," Gippal joked, then affectionately messed up Rikku's hair. "Glad that's over with." He tacked on a playful eye roll, then picked up his dinner menu. Rikku couldn't take her eyes off him. She just couldn't believe how different he was._


End file.
